Chinese word

歌

Pronunciation

Pinyingē

Meaning

  • nounsong

Example

你听过这首歌吗？nǐ tīng guò zhè shǒu gē ma

Have you heard this song?

Illustration for 歌 (song)

More examples

我最喜欢这首歌。wǒ zuì xǐ huān zhè shǒu gē

I like this song best.

Core concept

A musical work carried by the human voice, with melody and words joined in one piece.

Common phrases

  • 一首歌yì shǒu gē

    a song

  • 唱歌chàng gē

    sing

  • 喜欢这首歌xǐ huān zhè shǒu gē

    like this song

Similar words

歌曲gē qǔ: A complete composed song with a melody and lyrics as one musical work.
歌声gē shēng: The sound of a person's voice while singing.
歌词gē cí: The words or poetic lines sung in a song.
曲子qǔ zi: A short tune or piece of music, in casual spoken use.

Definition in Chinese

用人声演唱的音乐作品，通常有旋律和歌词，常作为一首具体的歌曲被指称。yòng rén shēng yǎn chàng de yīn yuè zuò pǐn tōng cháng yǒu xuán lǜ hé gē cí cháng zuò wéi yì shǒu jù tǐ de gē qǔ bèi zhǐ chēng

Word origin

In the character 歌 (gē, "song"), 哥 (gē, "elder brother") supplies the pronunciation, while 欠 (qiàn, "yawn") evokes an open mouth and breath used for singing.

Usage tips

  • When counting songs, Chinese uses 首 (shǒu, "measure word for songs") before the noun, while English usually has no special counter word.

Related words

Word lists with this word