How to Write 牿 (gù) — Meaning “pen; shed; to restrain”

Picture a cow (牛) standing inside a fenced area with a sign (告) that says "RESTRAINED". This image of a penned cow with a clear notice helps you recall that 牿 means a pen or to restrain.

Write the left radical 牛 as three strokes: horizontal, vertical with hook, then upward lift. The right part 告 starts with a horizontal, then a vertical stroke, another horizontal, and a 口 (mouth) at the bottom. A common mistake is to omit the vertical stroke after the first horizontal in 告, which makes the character incomplete.

牿 has the right component 告 (to announce), meaning "pen" or "to restrain". 牮 has the right component 建 (to build) and means "to build a pen" or "to repair". 牯 has 古 (old) on the right and means "a bull" or "ancient cow". Visually, 牿's 口 is inside 告, while 牯's 古 has a 十 above 口.

牿 is a rare character found mainly in classical literature or agricultural vocabulary, such as 牿亡 (to lose livestock from a pen) and 牿牛 (to pen up cattle). It is not in the HSK list and is seldom used in everyday conversation, but learners may see it in historical farming texts or traditional idioms.

Common words containing 牿 include: 牿亡 (gù wáng) — to lose livestock from a pen; 牿牛 (gù niú) — to pen up cattle; 牿之 (gù zhī) — to restrain it; to pen it up.