gǎo zi
manuscript; draft; sketch
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
Track your progress, master characters, and achieve your Chinese language goals.
Get Started Free
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.
