HSK 4 · Function Words

大约 dàyuē “approximately” in Chinese

Traditional 大約

What 大约 means

  1. approximately
  2. probably

How to say 大约

  • 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 first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale约yuē1st tone, high and level

大约 in a sentence

  1. 你大约认识多少英文词？

    Nǐ dàyuē rènshi duōshǎo Yīngwén cí?

    Roughly how many English words do you know?

    Sentence #799824 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我早上总是大约七点钟醒来。

    Wǒ zǎoshang zǒngshì dàyuē qī diǎnzhōng xǐnglái.

    I always wake up at about seven in the morning.

    Sentence #891106 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 一碗饭大约重一百八十克。

    Yì wǎn fàn dàyuē zhòng yìbǎi bāshí kè.

    A bowl of rice weighs about 180 grams.

    Sentence #647666 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 大约 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 约 (yuē) with each of its parts in a different colour
约yuēto make an appointment
  • 纟silk form of 糸 · mìMeaning part
  • 勺spoon · sháo

How to write 大约

大 3 strokes · 约 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 大约

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大概dàgài · roughly

Words with 约

约yuē · to arrange to meet节约jiéyuē · to economise约会yuēhuì · appointment约束yuēshù · to restrain制约zhìyuē · to restrict隐约yǐnyuē · faint条约tiáoyuē · treaty

More words: Particles & Connectors

不仅bùjǐn · not only (… but also)差不多chàbuduō · almost从来cónglái · always大概dàgài · roughly到处dàochù · everywhere到底dàodǐ · after all得děi · to have to底dǐ · bottom

FAQs

大约 (dàyuē) means “approximately” or “probably”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it dàyuē: dà with a 4th tone, then yuē 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, 大约 is written 大約. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type dayue with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 大约 from the suggestions. Typing dayue into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
大约 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.