Kilo Lingo

(shǒu gōng) - DT in Mandarin

shǒugōng

Traditional: 手工

#5605 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

DT

Stroke order

Stroke order for 手

Stroke order for 工

Examples

zhēng

We made a kite in DT class.

She's very good at handicrafts.

This is a gift I made myself, by hand.

The school's DT class is very popular with students.

He likes making handicrafts.

手工 (shǒugōng) covers DT (design and technology) as a school subject and, more broadly, anything "handmade, done by hand". 手 (shǒu) means "hand" and 工 (gōng) means "work, craft", so the compound is transparently "hand work".

As a subject label it is the closest Chinese equivalent to what a British school calls DT, covering model-making, woodwork and craft projects rather than fine art, which falls under 美术 (měishù) instead.

Outside school, 手工 (shǒugōng) is the word on the label of a market stall selling handmade goods, 手工艺品 (shǒugōngyìpǐn), "handicrafts", and in the common compliment 你很手巧 (nǐ hěn shǒuqiǎo), "you're good with your hands", which uses the related character 巧 (qiǎo), "skilful", rather than 工 (gōng) itself.

Where this fits

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Mandarin · Free printables

手工: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "手工" (DT): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

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This word is part of lesson 109.