Level 4 · Upper Intermediate
Roughly: 大概, 差不多, 左右
大概 / 差不多 + Number … / Number + 左右
Three easy ways to say "about": 大概 (dàgài) and 差不多 (chàbuduō) go BEFORE the amount — 大概要二十分钟 "takes about twenty minutes"; 左右 (zuǒyòu, literally "left-right") hangs AFTER the number — 三十块钱左右 "around thirty kuai".
Position is the whole trick. 左右 can never move forward, and you only need one approximator per number — 大概三十岁左右 doubles up.
Examples
从我家到学校大概要二十分钟。
從我家到學校大概要二十分鐘。
cóng wǒ jiā dào xué xiào dà gài yào èr shí fēn zhōng
It takes about twenty minutes from my home to school.
现在差不多十二点了。
現在差不多十二點了。
xiàn zài chà bu duō shí èr diǎn le
It's almost twelve o'clock now.
这本书三十块钱左右。
這本書三十塊錢左右。
zhè běn shū sān shí kuài qián zuǒ yòu
This book costs around thirty kuai.
我等了差不多半个小时。
我等了差不多半個小時。
wǒ děng le chà bu duō bàn ge xiǎo shí
I waited for about half an hour.
Common mistakes
✗ 他左右三十岁。
✓ 他三十岁左右。
左右 always follows the number, never precedes it.
✗ 他大概三十岁左右。
✓ 他三十岁左右。
One approximator is enough — 大概 before the number or 左右 after, not both.
Related grammar points
Practice this pattern in graded stories like Taking a Taxi (Part 1), The Nervous Child (Part 2) inside the Literate Chinese app.
