Where 左 comes from
A left hand; compare 又
How to write 左 (zuǒ, “left”)
左 (zuǒ), an HSK 2 character, means “left”, “the Left” and “east”. It is HSK 2 in the 2025 syllabus, up from level 1 in the 2021 standard. It is a picture-like character. Dictionaries list it under the radical 工 (“work”). On its own it is an HSK 2 word; it also forms 左边 (“left”), 左右 (“left and right”) and 左顾右盼 (“glancing to left and right”). Japanese reads it hidari, “left”, as a JLPT N5 kanji.
- Pinyin
- zuǒ
- Strokes
- 5
- HSK
- 2
- Radical
- 工 (“work”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdown and left
- Horizontal ㇐centerrightwards
- Vertical ㇑centerdownwards
- Horizontal ㇐bottom leftrightwards
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 5 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| zuǒ third tone | left; the Left (politics); east; unorthodox; queer | — | 左边 左右 左顾右盼 左上 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 2
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 2 word
- Words with it
- 53 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 左
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 左 | zuǒ | left; the Left (politics) HSK 2 |
| 左边 左邊 | zuǒbian | left; the left side HSK 2 |
| 左右 | zuǒyòu | left and right; nearby HSK 4 |
| 左顾右盼 左顧右盼 | zuǒgù-yòupàn | glancing to left and right (idiom); to look all around HSK 7-9 |
| 左上 | zuǒshàng | upper left |
| 左下 | zuǒxià | lower left |
| 左手 | zuǒshǒu | left hand; left-hand side |
| 左面 | zuǒmiàn | left side |
| 白左 | báizuǒ | (neologism, attested by 2010) naive, self-righteous Western liberals… |
| 左近 | zuǒjìn | nearby |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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Keep going
HSK 2, in list order: