事故 (shìgù) — accident / incident

事故 (shìgù)

Refers to an unintended, harmful incident, most commonly a traffic accident or workplace accident.

Meanings

1. [noun] Accident, incident (usually involving injury or damage).
2. [noun] Mishap, unforeseen harmful event.

Example Sentences

路上发生了一起交通事故。 Lù shàng fāshēng le yī qǐ jiāotōng shìgù. A traffic accident occurred on the road.

工厂里发生了安全事故。 Gōngchǎng lǐ fāshēng le ānquán shìgù. A safety accident occurred in the factory.

为了防止事故，我们要小心驾驶。 Wèile fángzhǐ shìgù, wǒmen yào xiǎoxīn jiàshǐ. In order to prevent accidents, we should drive carefully.

那次事故造成了很大的损失。 Nà cì shìgù zàochéng le hěn dà de sǔnshī. That accident caused a great deal of loss.

Collocations

Memory Hook

事 means "matter/event" and 故 means "old/cause/incident" — an unexpected old-style disruption to normal matters.