对 (duì): right

Meanings

1 right
2 correct
3 towards
4 to treat

Characters

对

duì

correct; right; toward; pair

Examples

HSK 1

她对我很好。

Tā duì wǒ hěn hǎo.

She treats me very well.

HSK 2

你说得对。

Nǐ shuō de duì.

What you said is right.

HSK 4

对不起，我迟到了。

Duìbuqǐ, wǒ chídào le.

Sorry, I'm late.

Tips

grammar

对 as a preposition means 'towards' or 'regarding': 对我来说 (for me / as far as I am concerned).

usage

Saying 对对对 is a common way to enthusiastically agree with someone in conversation.

Components

radical

寸 cùn

inch; precise hand

Right side - also the indexing radical (Kangxi #41). 寸 depicts a hand 又 with a small marker dot at the wrist showing the pulse-point: the place where one inch is measured. Marks 对 as a precise, deliberate action: matching exactly, answering correctly, facing squarely. Same radical in 寺 (temple), 封 (to seal), 射 (to shoot).

semantic

又 yòu

right hand; again

Left side 又 - pictograph of a right hand with three fingers. Replaced the much fuller 業 phonetic of traditional 對 in the 1956 reform; the modern hand depicts holding or grasping. Same hand also in 友, 受, 取 - characters about handling. Together with the right side it pictures hands offering correctly across to one another.