故

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happening; instance; reason; cause; intentional; former; old; friend; therefore; hence; (of people) to die, dead

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Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

攵 meaning “tap” + 古 sound ( gǔ )

Components 古攵

deliberately · Heisig RSH #342

古 ancient + taskmaster

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
平白无故	píng bái wú gù	(idiom) for no reason whatever; inexplicably
人身事故	rén shēn shì gù	accident causing injury or death
意外事故	yì wài shì gù	accident
故城县	Gù chéng Xiàn	Gucheng, a county in Hengshui City 衡水市[Heng2 shui3 Shi4], Hebei
人情世故	rén qíng shì gù	worldly wisdom; the ways of the world; to know how to get on in the world
神话故事	shén huà gù shi	mythical story; myth
一见如故	yī jiàn rú gù	familiarity at first sight
民间故事	mín jiān gù shi	folk story; folktale
故事线	gù shi xiàn	storyline; plotline
故地重游	gù dì chóng yóu	see 舊地重遊\|旧地重游[jiu4 di4 chong2 you2]
不主故常	bù zhǔ gù cháng	not to stick to the old conventions
故人	gù rén	old friend; the deceased
老于世故	lǎo yú shì gù	experienced in the ways of the world (idiom); worldly-wise; sophisticated
故国	gù guó	country with an ancient history
故地	gù dì	once familiar places; former haunts
无故	wú gù	without cause or reason
温故而知新	wēn gù ér zhī xīn	to review the old and know the new (idiom, from the Analects); to recall the past to under…
故家	gù jiā	old and respected family; family whose members have been officials from generation to gene…
故事片	gù shi piàn	fictional film; feature film
事故	shì gù	accident; CL:樁\|桩[zhuang1],起[qi3],次[ci4]

Characters sharing the sound component 古 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
古 sound part	gǔ	old, classic, ancient
苦	kǔ	bitter; hardship, suffering
胡	hú	recklessly, foolishly; wildly
居	jū	to live, to reside; to dwell; to sit
固	gù	to solidify; strength
估	gū	merchant; to estimate, to guess, to presume
咕	gū	mumble, mutter, murmur; rumble
鸪	gū	species of Taiwan pigeon
沽	gū	to buy and sell; of inferior quality
蛄	gū	mole cricket
辜	gū	crime, offense, sin
祜	hù	blessings, happiness, prosperity
怙	hù	to rely on; to presume; father (formal)
钴	gǔ	cobalt; clothes-iron
罟	gǔ	net, snare; to implicate
诂	gǔ	explanation; to comment, to explain
骷	kū	skeleton
嘏	gǔ	felicity, prosperity; large and strong
轱	gū	wheel; to revolve, to turn