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Choosing Mnemonics

Pick the mnemonic story that sticks best for you by clicking its ☆ — there's no wrong choice, and you'll be able to write your own soon. Then press Continue.

= gu + Ø3
surname Gu
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= gu + Ø3
ancient / old / paleo-
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How to pronounce 古

MandarinBanana teaches pronunciation with the Marilyn Method: every Pinyin syllable is one initial plus one final, the initial becomes a person, an animal or a deity, and the final becomes a place in your memory palace — with the tone deciding which part of that place the scene happens in. Remember the little story below for each half and the whole syllable comes back with them.

= gu initial

Gu is for Gitta Giraffe.

By Matthias • updated 3 months ago
+ Ø3 final

In the space station’s living room.

By Matthias • updated 5 months ago

古 character breakdown

Chinese characters are built out of smaller characters. Each component carries a mnemonic symbol - one concrete object that stands in for it - and a mnemonic story hands those objects to the person and the place that stand for the pronunciation. Learn a component once and every character that reuses it gets easier.

Component Translations
shí = sh + Ø2
ten / 10
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kǒu = k + ou3
mouth / classifier for things with mouths (people, domestic animals, cannons, wells etc) / classifier for bites or mouthfuls
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Characters with 古 as component

= gu + Ø4
hard / strong / solid / sure / assuredly / undoubtedly / of course / indeed / admittedly
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= ku + Ø1
dried up
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shě = sh + e3
to give up / to abandon / to give alms
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Words with 古

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strange / weird / eccentric / bizarre
ancient / old / age-old

Sentences with 古

古 currently does not appear in any sentence.

Want to remember 古 for good?

Make it your learning target and MandarinBanana works out the shortest route to it: the two sounds its syllable is built from, then the components of the character itself, one short step at a time. No account needed to start.

2 translations

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