ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY

fruit; result

guǒ
8 strokes · Pictograph: fruit 田-shape hanging on a tree 木 · HSK 2

Where 果 comes from

果 is a tree 木 with a round fruit drawn at its crown — one of the cleanest pictographs in the script. Because fruit is what a tree's effort becomes, 果 also grew into 'result': 结果 'to bear fruit' means both harvest and outcome.

果 in Chinese culture

如果 'if' and 结果 'result' make 果 grammatical infrastructure — hard to speak a paragraph without it. 因果 cause-and-effect anchors Buddhist thought: today's 果 is yesterday's 因. And 苹果 Apple sells more phones in China than anywhere outside the US.

Example

水果 shuǐguǒ — fruit

多吃水果对身体好。
Duō chī shuǐguǒ duì shēntǐ hǎo.
Eating more fruit is good for you.

How to remember it

A round fruit sitting on a tree 木 — FRUIT, and every RESULT ripens the same way.

吃瓜群众 'melon-eating masses' — the onlookers — technically eat 瓜 not 果, but 果 fans insist results are sweeter than gossip.

Same sound, different tones

1st guō
pot
2nd guó
country
3rd guǒ
fruit
4th guò
to pass

Words unlocked by 果

水果 shuǐguǒ
fruit
如果 rúguǒ
if
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