右 (yòu) · right (direction)

Meanings

1 right (direction)

Characters

右

yòu

right (side); right-hand

Examples

HSK 1

在你的右边。

Zài nǐ de yòubian.

On your right side.

HSK 2

往右走。

Wǎng yòu zǒu.

Go right.

HSK 3

右边有一个小公园。

Yòubian yǒu yí gè xiǎo gōngyuán.

There's a small park on the right.

Tips

memory

右 has a 口 (mouth) component. Think: you eat with your right hand (in many cultures), bringing food to your mouth.

Components

radical

口 kǒu

mouth

Bottom mouth radical - the indexing radical. The right hand was used to bring food to the mouth - a culturally universal pairing that captures the original sense of 'aid, support', from which the 'right side' meaning later emerged. Distinguishes 右 from its mirror twin 左 (which has 工 instead).

semantic

又 yòu

right hand

Top-left - historically a stylised contraction of 又 (right hand). Modern 又 itself has 2 strokes drawn slightly differently; 右's top is the older flattened form. In oracle-bone script 右 was simply 又, a picture of the right hand. The hand image is what pairs 右 with 左 as a directional opposite.