Dictionary › 左右

左右

zuǒ yòu

Old HSK 6 HSK 3.0 level 4 2-character word

左右 (zuǒ yòu) means "left and right". It is an HSK 3.0 level 4 word, and was HSK 6 in the old six-level list.

What 左右 means

1. left and right
2. nearby
3. approximately
4. attendant
5. to control
6. to influence

How 左右 is used in grammar

左右 is a grammar word. Each link goes to its own section: what it does in that pattern, the structure, three example sentences with pinyin, and the mistake to avoid.

• Approximation: 左右/大约/差不多/将近 (HSK 4)

The official HSK 3.0 grammar outline lists it at level 4, expressing numbers.

The characters in 左右

• 左zuǒleft; the Left (politics); east
• 右yòu(bound form) right; right-hand side; (bound form) (politics) right of center…

Example sentences

• 他左右看了看。
  He looked left and right.
• 我六点左右起床。
  I got up at about six.
• 他不会分辨左右。
  He can't distinguish between left and right.
• 萨米十六岁左右。
  Sami was about sixteen years old.
• 我们7点左右碰头。
  See you about 7.
• 他五点左右会回来。
  He'll be back by five o'clock.

Words starting with 左右

• 左右为难zuǒ yòu wéi nán(idiom) between a rock and a hard place; in a dilemma
• 左右手zuǒ yòu shǒuleft and right hands; (fig.) capable assistant; right-hand man
• 左右逢源zuǒ yòu féng yuánlit. to strike water right and left (idiom); fig. to turn everything into gold…
• 左右两难zuǒ yòu liǎng nán(idiom) between a rock and a hard place; in a dilemma
• 左右共利zuǒ yòu gòng lìambidextrous
• 左右勾拳zuǒ yòu gōu quánleft hook and right hook (boxing); the old one-two
• 左右开弓zuǒ yòu kāi gōnglit. to shoot from both sides (idiom); fig. to display ambidexterity…
• 左右袒zuǒ yòu tǎnto take sides with; to be partial to; to be biased

Words containing 左右

• 顾左右而言他gù zuǒ yòu ér yán tā(idiom) to digress from the topic of discussion
• 不为左右袒bù wèi zuǒ yòu tǎnto remain neutral in a quarrel (idiom)

Where 左右 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of HSK 6 Vocabulary · zuò (HSK 6), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 6 word, with the rest of its level.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read zuǒ yòu correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.