Meaning of 回去
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to return
- to go back
How to use 回去
Use 回去 when you return to a place you came from and the speaker is not there. It often follows a place or comes as a complement after a verb, as in 走回去 (zǒu huíqù, walk back). Example: 我明天回去。(Wǒ míngtiān huíqù.) I am going back tomorrow.
回 (huí) looks like a small box inside a bigger box, like going round and back to where you started. Add 去 (qù), to go away, and 回去 means to go back, away from where the speaker is now.
Common mistake: Learners mix up 回去 and 回来 (huílái). 回来 means coming back toward the speaker, so if you are at home and call a friend, say 你什么时候回来? not 回去. Also, a place word goes between the two parts: 回家去 or 回中国去, not 回去中国.
回去 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
回 huí · to go back · 6 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
去 qù · to go · 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Related words
Words that share a character with 回去.
| 回来 | huílái | to return; to come back |
| 出去 | chūqù | to go out |
| 回家 | huí jiā | to return home |
| 回到 | huídào | to return to |
| 进去 | jìnqù | to go in |
| 回答 | huídá | to reply; to answer; reply; answer |
| 去年 | qùnián | last year |
| 过去 | guòqù | (in the) past; former; previous; to go over; to pass by |
| 回国 | huí guó | to return to one's home country |
| 失去 | shīqù | to lose |
| 下去 | xiàqù | to go down; to descend |
| 看上去 | kàn shàngqù | it would appear; it seems (that) |
Questions about 回去
What does 回去 mean?
回去 (huíqù) means "to return; to go back".
How do you write 回去?
回去 is made of 2 characters: 回 (6 strokes), 去 (5 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.
Is 回去 an HSK word?
Yes. 回去 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 去 in 回去 pronounced qù or with a neutral tone?
Both are heard. The dictionary lists huíqu with a neutral tone in everyday speech, especially when it follows another verb like 拿回去 (ná huíqu). Said slowly or on its own, huíqù with a full fourth tone is also fine.
What is the difference between 回去 and 回到?
回到 (huídào) must be followed by a place: 回到家 (huí dào jiā), to arrive back home. 回去 can stand alone at the end of a sentence and focuses on the direction away from the speaker.