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

他又来了。

Tā yòu lái le.

He came again.

又大又甜。

Yòu dà yòu tián.

Both big and sweet.

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'.