HSK 6 · Work

公务 gōngwù “official business” in Chinese

Traditional 公務

What 公务 means

  1. official business
  2. public affairs

How to say 公务

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale公gōng1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale务wù4th tone, falling

公务 in a sentence

  1. 他去上海办公务了。

    Tā qù Shànghǎi bàn gōngwù le.

    He’s gone to Shanghai on official business.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 这辆车只能用于公务。

    Zhè liàng chē zhǐnéng yòngyú gōngwù.

    This car may only be used for official business.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 公务 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 公 (gōng) with each of its parts in a different colour
公gōngpublic
  • 八eight · bā
  • 厶private · sī

Memory aidAn old explanation: share out 八 what is private 厶, and it becomes public.

The character 务 (wù) with each of its parts in a different colour
务wùaffair
  • 夂go · zhǐ
  • 力strength · lì

Memory aidPicture setting off 夂 with all your strength 力: to work at a task.

How to write 公务

公 4 strokes · 务 5 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

公务 (gōngwù) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 公务 (gōngwù). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 公务

Words with 公

公司gōngsī · company公交车gōngjiāochē · public transport vehicle公共汽车gōnggòng qìchē · bus公斤gōngjīn · kilogram公园gōngyuán · public park办公室bàngōngshì · office公里gōnglǐ · kilometre高速公路gāosùgōnglù · motorway外公wàigōng · grandpa (mother’s father)公元gōngyuán · CE (Common Era)

Words with 务

服务员fúwùyuán · waiter服务fúwù · to serve任务rènwu · mission家务jiāwù · household duties业务yèwù · business商务shāngwù · business义务yìwù · duty事务shìwù · affairs职务zhíwù · post财务cáiwù · financial affairs

More words: Work & Career

盖章gàizhāng · to stamp (with a seal)岗位gǎngwèi · post公关gōngguān · public relations功劳gōngláo · credit骨干gǔgàn · backbone规划guīhuà · plan顾问gùwèn · adviser雇佣gùyōng · to employ

FAQs

公务 (gōngwù) means “official business” or “public affairs”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it gōngwù: gōng with a 1st tone, then wù with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 公务 is written 公務. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type gongwu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 公务 from the suggestions. Typing gongwu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
公务 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.