HSK 4 · Function Words

大概 dàgài “roughly” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 大概 means

  1. roughly
  2. probably
  3. rough
  4. approximate
  5. about
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • general idea

How to say 大概

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale大dà4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale概gài4th tone, falling

大概 in a sentence

  1. 她大概不会来了。

    Tā dàgài bú huì lái le.

    She probably isn’t coming.

    Sentence #1865136 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 火车大概会在中午前到站。

    Huǒchē dàgài huì zài zhōngwǔ qián dào zhàn.

    The train will probably arrive at the station before noon.

    Sentence #336637 from Tatoeba

  3. “昨天到几点钟才睡觉的？”“大概两点半。”

    “Zuótiān dào jǐ diǎn zhōng cái shuìjiào de?” “Dàgài liǎng diǎn bàn.”

    “What time did you finally go to bed last night?” “About half past two.”

    Sentence #3804981 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 大概 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 大 (dà) with each of its parts in a different colour
大dàbig; large; great
  • 一one · yī
  • 人person · rén

Memory aidA person standing with arms stretched wide: big.

The character 概 (gài) with each of its parts in a different colour
概gàigeneral; approximate
  • 木tree · mùMeaning part
  • 既already · jìSound part

木 hints at the meaning (tree); 既 (jì) hints at the sound. Compare it with gài.

How to write 大概

大 3 strokes · 概 13 strokes

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

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

Words related to 大概

Words with 大

大dà · big大学dàxué · university大学生dàxuéshēng · university student大家dàjiā · everyone大人dàren · adult大衣dàyī · overcoat大小dàxiǎo · size大熊猫dàxióngmāo · giant panda大夫dàifu · doctor大约dàyuē · approximately

Words with 概

概括gàikuò · to summarise概念gàiniàn · concept气概qìgài · spirit

More words: Particles & Connectors

不过búguò · but不仅bùjǐn · not only (… but also)差不多chàbuduō · almost从来cónglái · always大约dàyuē · approximately到处dàochù · everywhere到底dàodǐ · after all得děi · to have to

FAQs

大概 (dàgài) means “roughly” or “probably”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it dàgài: dà with a 4th tone, then gài with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 大概 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type dagai with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 大概 from the suggestions. Typing dagai into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
大概 is an HSK 4 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.