How to say “about” in Chinese
about, approximately
“About” in Chinese is 大约, dà yuē: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
大约 is read dà yuē: 2 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
A person with arms spread wide.
On the left, 纟 “thread”: to tie with an agreement. On the right, 勺 “ladle”.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “大约”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 大约. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 从这儿到机场大约需要一个小时。cóngzhèrdàojīchǎngdàyuēxūyàoyígexiǎoshíIt takes about an hour to get from here to the airport.
- 我们公司大约有两百个人wǒmengōngsīdàyuēyǒuliǎngbǎigerénThere are about two hundred people in our company.
- 大约需要一个小时dàyuēxūyàoyígexiǎoshíIt takes about an hour.
- 铜的密度大约是水的九倍。tóngdemìdùdàyuēshìshuǐdejiǔbèiThe density of copper is about nine times that of water.
- 月球围绕地球转，转一圈大约需要一个月。yuèqiúwéiràodìqiúzhuàn,zhuànyìquāndàyuēxūyàoyígeyuèThe Moon revolves around the Earth; one orbit takes about a month.
More words from the lesson “Roughly this much”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “about” in Chinese?
“About” in Chinese is 大约, pinyin dàyuē.
What does 大约 mean?
大约 (dàyuē) means “about, approximately”.
How do you write 大约?
大约 is 2 characters: 大 (dà) — big; 约 (yuē) — make an appointment; about. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 大约?
大约 is read dàyuē. Tones: dà — fourth tone, yuē — first tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“about” in the lesson “Roughly this much”
This word is from the topic “Money and numbers” of HSK 4. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
Start for free