咕咚咕咚
gūdōng gūdōng
The English verb "glug" can be expressed in Chinese as 咕咚咕咚 (gūdōng gūdōng).
咕咚咕咚 is an onomatopoeia used to mimic the sound of liquid being swallowed rapidly or the sound of bubbles rising in a liquid.
Meaning: to quickly swallow liquid (verb)
Which one should you use?
The variation 咕嘟咕嘟 (gūdū gūdū) is also frequently used to represent the same sound of swallowing or liquid bubbling.
How does it change in a sentence?
To use this onomatopoeia as an adverb to describe the manner of drinking, you should add the particle 地 (de) after it, such as in 咕咚咕咚地喝 (to drink gluggingly).
How do you pronounce it?
gūdōng gūdōng
Did you know?
- If you are describing a very large, heavy object falling into a pool, you might use 咕咚 instead of a word for 'splash'. This highlights how the sound of a heavy impact is linguistically linked to the sound of swallowing liquid.
- The character 咚 (dōng) inside 咕咚咕咚 is the same character used to mimic the sound of a drum or a heavy beat.
- While 咕咚咕咚 mimics swallowing, the similar-sounding 咕噜咕噜 (gū lū gū lū) is used to describe a growling stomach or a baby's babbling.
Examples in context
- 我听到他倒酒的声音，咕咕咕的。I heard the sound of him pouring wine, glug glug glug.
- 他开软饮料时，听到了咯咯的声音。He heard the sound of "glug" when he opened the soft drink.
- 他口渴得喝水咕嘟咕嘟的感觉很爽。He felt refreshed when drinking water with a "glug glug" sound as he was really thirsty.
- 他咕咚咕咚地喝完了那杯冰水。Tā gūdōng gūdōng de hē wán le nà bēi bīngshuǐ.He gulped down that glass of ice water.
- 渴的时候，我总是咕咚咕咚地大口喝。Kě de shíhou, wǒ zǒngshì gūdōng gūdōng de dàkǒu hē.When I'm thirsty, I always gulp it down in big gulps.
- 听，他正在咕咚咕咚地喝汤。Tīng, tā zhèngzài gūdōng gūdōng de hē tāng.Listen, he is gulping down his soup.
Example conversation
Junjie and Yuting are resting after a run.
- 雨婷 Yuting俊杰，你喝水太快了。jùnjié, nǐ hē shuǐ tài kuài le.Junjie, you are drinking water too fast.
- 俊杰 Junjie因为我太渴了，只能咕咚咕咚地喝。yīnwèi wǒ tài kě le, zhǐ néng gūdōng gūdōng de hē.Because I'm so thirsty, I can only glug it down.
- 雨婷 Yuting小心别呛到了。xiǎoxīn bié qiàng dào le.Be careful not to choke.
- 俊杰 Junjie没关系，现在舒服多了。méi guān xì, xiàn zài shū fú duō le.It's okay, I feel much better now.
