又 (yòu): again

Meanings

1 again
2 also
3 both...and...

Characters

又

yòu

again; also; both

The character depicts a right hand - reaching for something again.

Examples

HSK 1

他又来了。

Tā yòu lái le.

He came again.

HSK 3

又大又甜。

Yòu dà yòu tián.

Both big and sweet.

HSK 4

你怎么又迟到了？

Nǐ zěnme yòu chídào le?

Why are you late again?

Tips

grammar

又 is used for past actions that happened again. For future repetition, use 再 (zài). Pattern: 又...又... means 'both...and...' (又便宜又好吃 - both cheap and delicious).

Components

pictograph

又 yòu

right hand; again

Pictograph of a right hand seen from the side - the diagonal is the arm and the short stroke marks the fingers (originally three lines, contracted to two). Originally meant 'right hand', the proto-form of 右. The 'again, also' adverbial use developed by phonetic loan. The hand sense survives in 友 (friend), 取 (take), 受 (receive), 反 (turn over). Kangxi radical #29.

Radical

Right Hand Kangxi #29

The 又 radical, originally a pictograph of a right hand and the proto-form of 右. A productive structural slot for characters involving grasping or repeated action: 友, 取, 受, 叔, 反, 双, 发. The hand-meaning is invisible in the modern adverbial sense of 'again'.