gǎo zi
manuscript; draft; sketch
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我正在写一篇关于中国经济的稿子。
wǒ zhèngzài xiě yī piān guānyú zhōngguó jīngjì de gǎozi.
I am writing an article about China's economy.
这篇稿子写得很好，我很喜欢。
zhè piān gǎozi xiě dé hěn hǎo, wǒ hěn xǐhuan.
This article is well written, I like it very much.
我需要修改一下这篇稿子，然后再交给你。
wǒ xūyào xiūgǎi yīxià zhè piān gǎozi, ránhòu zàijiāo gěi nǐ.
I need to revise this article before I can give it to you.
文章 (wénzhāng)
article
手稿 (shǒugǎo)
manuscript
成品 (chéngpǐn)
finished product
定稿 (dìnggǎo)
final draft
The Chinese word 稿子 (gǎozi) is a combination of two characters: 稿 (gǎo) and 子 (zi). The character 稿 originally meant "dried grass" or "straw" in ancient Chinese. In the context of writing, it came to be used to refer to the rough draft of a document, as it was often written on pieces of dried grass or straw before being transferred to more permanent materials like bamboo or silk. The character 子 (zi) is a common suffix that can indicate a variety of things, including "son", "child", or "seed". In the case of 稿子, it is used to indicate that the document is a "draft" or "manuscript".Therefore, the word 稿子 literally means "a draft written on dried grass or straw", and it has been used in Chinese to refer to drafts, manuscripts, or articles since ancient times.
