故意
deliberately; on purpose
HSK level
- Pinyin
- gùyì
- Part of speech
- adverb
- Level
- HSK 4
- Strokes
- 22
- Register
- neutral
- In episodes
- 1
Stroke order for 故意
故意 is written with 22 strokes (故: 9, 意: 13). The animation replays automatically.
What does 故意 mean?
故意 (gùyì) means 'deliberately, on purpose, or intentionally' — it marks that an action was done with conscious intent rather than by accident.
It usually sits before the verb: 他故意迟到 'he was late on purpose.' Two differences from English 'on purpose.' First, 故意 carries a strong negative or accusatory tone — it almost always implies the intentional act was annoying, harmful, or blameworthy, so you use it to complain ('you did that on purpose!').
To say you did something good deliberately, you more often use 特意 (tèyì, 'specially / went out of one's way to'). Second, unlike neutral English 'intentionally,' 故意 is rarely used for neutral or positive intent; 他特意来看你 ('he came specially to see you') would not use 故意. Register is neutral and common in everyday speech.
Character by character
Memory hook: 故 (with a reason/cause) + 意 (intention) = with deliberate intention — on purpose.
Hear 故意 in real episodes
故意 appears in 1 Fluentide podcast episode at natural native speed. Each sentence plays at the easiest difficulty it exists in — switch it to hear the same moment at your level, with full pinyin and English throughout.
这种事以前也发生过：二零一五年，德国的一架飞机上，副驾驶把机长关在门外，故意撞山，一百五十个人全死了。
This has happened before: in 2015, on a German plane, the co-pilot locked the captain out and deliberately flew into a mountain; all 150 people died.
A FlyDubai Co-Pilot Attacked His Captain With the Cockpit's Own Axe. Passengers Broke In and Saved the Plane.
Example sentences
对不起，我不是故意的。
Duìbuqǐ, wǒ búshì gùyì de.
Sorry, I didn't do it on purpose.
spoken
他故意不接我的电话。
Tā gùyì bù jiē wǒ de diànhuà.
He deliberately didn't answer my call.
spoken
你是故意气我吧？
Nǐ shì gùyì qì wǒ ba?
You're annoying me on purpose, aren't you?
spoken
他故意把问题说得很复杂。
Tā gùyì bǎ wèntí shuō de hěn fùzá.
He deliberately made the problem sound complicated.
neutral
Common phrases with 故意
Synonyms
特意 means 'specially / went out of one's way to' with a positive, thoughtful tone (特意为你做的 'made this specially for you'). 故意 means 'on purpose' with a negative, blaming tone. Use 特意 for kindness, 故意 for wrongdoing.
有意 means 'intentionally / with intent,' more neutral and often written or legal (有意伤害 'intentional harm'). 故意 is the everyday spoken 'on purpose,' more accusatory. In casual complaints, 故意 is more natural.
Don't confuse 故意 with
Frequently asked questions
Related words from the same episodes
Acquire it by listening
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