HSK 3 · Verbs

离开 líkāi “leave” in Chinese

Traditional 離開

What 离开 means

  1. leave
  2. depart

How to say 离开

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale离lí2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale开kāi1st tone, high and level

离开 in a sentence

  1. 我明天就会离开。

    Wǒ míngtiān jiù huì líkāi.

    I’m leaving tomorrow.

    Sentence #382450 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 她一小时前离开了医院。

    Tā yì xiǎoshí qián líkāi le yīyuàn.

    She left the hospital an hour ago.

    Sentence #344206 from Tatoeba

  3. 是时候离开了。

    Shì shíhou líkāi le.

    It’s time to go.

    Sentence #8768758 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 离开 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 离 (lí) with each of its parts in a different colour
离líto leave
  • 亠lid · tóu
  • 凶culprit · xiōng
  • 禸track · róu
The character 开 (kāi) with each of its parts in a different colour
开kāito open
  • 一one · yī
  • 廾two hands · gǒng

Memory aidSimplified from 開: two hands lifting the bar of a gate 門: to open.

How to write 离开

离 10 strokes · 开 4 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

离开 (líkāi) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 离开 (líkāi). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 离开

Words with 离

离lí · away from距离jùlí · distance离婚líhūn · to divorce隔离gélí · to isolate脱离tuōlí · to break away from

Words with 开

开kāi · to open开车kāichē · to drive a car开始kāishǐ · to begin开学kāixué · to start a new school term打开dǎkāi · to open开会kāihuì · to have a meeting开花kāihuā · to bloom分开fēnkāi · to separate开机kāijī · to switch on (a device)开心kāixīn · to feel happy

More words: Common Verbs

结束jiéshù · to end借jiè · lend经过jīngguò · to pass哭kū · cry留学liúxué · study abroad拿ná · carry in your hand努力nǔlì · to work hard爬山páshān · mountain climbing

FAQs

离开 (líkāi) means “leave” or “depart”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it líkāi: lí with a 2nd tone, then kāi with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 离开 is written 離開. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type likai with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 离开 from the suggestions. Typing likai into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
离开 is an HSK 3 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.