沟

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ditch; gutter; groove; gully; ravine; CL:道[dao4]

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Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

氵 meaning “water” + 勾 sound ( gōu )

Components 氵勾

ditch · Heisig RSH #1924

水 water + cast

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
马里亚纳海沟	Mǎ lǐ yà nà Hǎi gōu	Mariana Trench
门头沟区	Mén tóu gōu Qū	Mentougou, a district of Beijing
口语沟通	kǒu yǔ gōu tōng	oral communication (psychology)
门头沟	Mén tóu gōu	see 門頭溝區\|门头沟区[Men2 tou2 gou1 Qu1]
地沟油	dì gōu yóu	illegally recycled waste cooking oil
水磨沟区	Shuǐ mò gōu Qū	Shuimogou, a district of Ürümqi City 烏魯木齊市\|乌鲁木齐市[Wu1 lu3 mu4 qi2 Shi4], Xinjiang
柳条沟事件	Liǔ tiáo Gōu Shì jiàn	see 柳條湖事件\|柳条湖事件[Liu3 tiao2 Hu2 Shi4 jian4]
阴沟里翻船	yīn gōu lǐ fān chuán	to meet with unexpected failure (idiom); to fail miserably (where failure was not expected…
排水沟	pái shuǐ gōu	gutter
沟子	gōu zi	(coll.) butt crack
山沟	shān gōu	valley; gully; mountain region
水沟	shuǐ gōu	gutter; sewer
天沟	tiān gōu	(rainwater) gutter
海沟	hǎi gōu	marine trench
沟道	gōu dào	groove
沟通	gōu tōng	to join; to connect; to link up; to communicate
九寨沟风景名胜区	Jiǔ zhài gōu Fēng jǐng míng shèng qū	Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historical Interest Area, Sichuan
水磨沟	Shuǐ mò gōu	see 水磨溝區\|水磨沟区[Shui3 mo4 gou1 Qu1]
明沟	míng gōu	open drainage channel; ditch
阳沟	yáng gōu	open drainage channel; ditch

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

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
勾 sound part	gōu	to hook, to join, to connect; to entice
构	gòu	to compose, to make; building, frame, structure
购	gòu	to buy, to purchase