国

Tap the pinyin to hear it

country; nation; state; (bound form) national

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

Treasure 玉 within a country's borders 囗

Components 囗玉

country · Heisig RSH #549

pent in + 玉 jade

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
中国	Zhōng guó	China
国家	guó jiā	country; nation; state
国外	guó wài	abroad; external (affairs); overseas; foreign
外国	wài guó	foreign country
国大	Guó Dà	abbr. for 國民大會\|国民大会, National Assembly of the Republic of China (extant during various per…
大国	dà guó	a power (i.e. a dominant country)
国人	guó rén	compatriots (literary); fellow countrymen
中国人大	Zhōng guó rén dà	China National People's Congress
中国人	Zhōng guó rén	Chinese person
国中	guó zhōng	junior high school (Tw); abbr. for 國民中學\|国民中学[guo2 min2 zhong1 xue2]
国学	guó xué	Chinese national culture; studies of ancient Chinese civilization; the Imperial College (h…
天国	tiān guó	Kingdom of Heaven
马国	Mǎ guó	Malaysia
国小	guó xiǎo	elementary school (Tw); abbr. for 國民小學\|国民小学[guo2 min2 xiao3 xue2]
中国海	Zhōng guó Hǎi	the China Seas (the seas of the Western Pacific Ocean, around China: Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea…
中国化	Zhōng guó huà	to sinicize; to take on Chinese characteristics
国会山	Guó huì shān	Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.
大西国	Dà xī guó	Atlantis
安国市	Ān guó Shì	Anguo, a county-level city in Baoding City 保定市[Bao3 ding4 Shi4], Hebei
国有	guó yǒu	nationalized; public; government owned; state-owned

These characters use 国 as their sound component — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
国 sound part	guó	country, nation, state; national
蝈	guō	cicada, grasshopper; small green frog
帼	guó	women's headgear; mourning cap
掴	guāi	to slap, to box one's ears