HSK 6 · Science

故障 gùzhàng “fault” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 故障 means

  1. fault
  2. breakdown
  3. malfunction
  4. defect
  5. shortcoming
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • failure

How to say 故障

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale故gù4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale障zhàng4th tone, falling

故障 in a sentence

  1. 这个机器出故障了。

    Zhè ge jīqì chū gùzhàng le.

    This machine has broken down.

    Sentence #8759489 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 电梯好像故障了。

    Diàntī hǎoxiàng gùzhàng le.

    The lift seems to be out of order.

    Sentence #791432 from Tatoeba

  3. 我的电视机出故障了，所以我不得不拿去修。

    Wǒ de diànshìjī chū gùzhàng le, suǒyǐ wǒ bùdébù ná qù xiū.

    My TV broke down, so I had to take it to be repaired.

    Sentence #333279 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 故障 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 故 (gù) with each of its parts in a different colour
故gùhappening
  • 古old · gǔSound part
  • 攵tap form of 攴 · pūMeaning part

攵 hints at the meaning (tap); 古 (gǔ) hints at the sound. Compare it with gù.

The character 障 (zhàng) with each of its parts in a different colour
障zhàngto block
  • 阝placeMeaning part
  • 章chapter · zhāngSound part

阝 hints at the meaning (place); 章 (zhāng) hints at the sound. Compare it with zhàng.

How to write 故障

故 9 strokes · 障 13 strokes

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

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

Words related to 故障

Words with 故

故事gùshi · story故意gùyì · deliberately故乡gùxiāng · hometown事故shìgù · accident变故biàngù · misfortune缘故yuángù · reason

Words with 障

保障bǎozhàng · to ensure屏障píngzhàng · barrier障碍zhàng'ài · obstacle

More words: Science & Technology

杠杆gànggǎn · lever更新gēngxīn · to update公式gōngshì · formula固体gùtǐ · solid (matter)航天hángtiān · spaceflight合成héchéng · to synthesise话筒huàtǒng · microphone火箭huǒjiàn · rocket

FAQs

故障 (gùzhàng) means “fault” or “breakdown”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it gùzhàng: gù with a 4th tone, then zhàng with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 故障 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type guzhang with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 故障 from the suggestions. Typing guzhang into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
故障 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 from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.