HSK 4 · Function Words

由 yóu “by” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 由 means

  1. by
  2. from
  3. up to (someone)
  4. to follow
  5. because of
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • due to
  • via
  • through
  • (before a noun and a verb) it is for … to …

How to say 由

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale由yóu2nd tone, rising

由 in a sentence

  1. 买不买由你决定。

    Mǎi bu mǎi yóu nǐ juédìng.

    Whether you buy it or not is up to you.

    Sentence #2028037 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 那家公司由我的哥哥经营。

    Nà jiā gōngsī yóu wǒ de gēge jīngyíng.

    That company is managed by my older brother.

    Sentence #14023308 from Tatoeba

  3. 地球是由海洋和陆地组成的。

    Dìqiú shì yóu hǎiyáng hé lùdì zǔchéng de.

    The earth is made up of sea and land.

    Sentence #610538 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

How 由 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 由 (yóu) drawn as one shape
由yóuto follow

由 is a single shape of 5 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

How to write 由

由 5 strokes

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

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

Words related to 由

Words with 由

由于yóuyú · due to自由zìyóu · freedom理由lǐyóu · reason不由得bùyóude · can’t help (doing)

More words: Particles & Connectors

一切yíqiè · everything以yǐ · with因此yīncǐ · thus尤其yóuqí · especially由于yóuyú · due to于是yúshì · thereupon与yǔ · and原来yuánlái · original

FAQs

由 (yóu) means “by” or “from”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it yóu: yóu with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 由 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type you with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 由 from the suggestions. Typing you into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
由 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.