左右 ／ 前後 ／ 上下 difference

[metlx]

What's the difference between 左右, 前后 and 上下 in usage? They all mean 'approximate', but they can't always be used interchangeably.

Would anyone be able to elaborate on that? When would 上下 not be appropriate (while others would be), and similarly for 左右 and 前后.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but here's how I understand it:

左右 - can be used to determine time, but not when it comes to days (e.g. cannot be used ’around 6th of August‘, nor ‘sometime in August’).

You can say - sometime in Spring, around 1980; about 9 o' clock;

- can also be used for quantities: about 2 meters; around 300;

- general word for 'approximate'. Used for time/quantity/direction

二十人左右；9点左右；。。。

前后 - for years/months. Sometime in 2011; Sometime in August;

- cannot be used for other quantities.

-predominant term for directions. ("around there somewhere") (?)

春节前后；暑假前后 ;

上下 -

- cannot be used for time

- can be used for other quantities (weight, .. ?)

50斤上下 ；。。。

[陳德聰]

I have been hesitant to respond to this because what you have written seems to be a bit off.

You can't say 哪里前后... You would use 附近 for an approximation with directions. But I don't think it would be wrong to say 八月十七日左右... Though 春节前后 seems fine and 春节左右 doesn't make any sense at all.

One thing though, I have never said "50公斤上下", that actually sounds kind of bizarre to me. I would say "50公斤左右". However I feel like this is just a personal preference thing. I would probably say 3米上下 if I were talking about the height of something though 'cause it has a literal feeling to it haha. Others likely have something else to say but I wanted to get the ball rolling.

[mokushiroku]

“左右”的用法有时候可以用在时序上面，例如：我大概会在明年春天左右到北京一趟。在这里，“左右”的确不是一个明确的时间概念，它是“大概、大约”的意思，但是就语感来说，它已经可以很明确的告诉对方，的确就是在春天的时候到北京，但是会是春天的开始或是尾声到北京呢？在这里就不明确了，以至于之后还必须向当事人做确认。所以“左右”的用法不是那么样的拘谨，它有时可以拿来打模糊仗，在语感的感受上不是那么样的强烈。

“前后”最简单的就是拿来界定位置。可是如果拿来和“我大概会在明年春天左右到北京一趟。”把“前后”和“左右”替换也未尝不可唷！那会变成“我大概会在明年春天前后到北京一趟。”基本上这在语感上是有些怪怪的，但是并不能说使用错误。不过因为春天的时间很长，如果把时间序界定的更明确些，例如“我大概会在明年春节前后到北京一趟。”那就是一个很通顺的用法了。所以前后除了拿来界定位置，也可以拿来界定特定的一段时间。

至于“上下”的部份，有一个的时间概念是可以被用上的，那就是“年龄”。“他看起来大概才卅岁上下”，这样子的用法是有的，也就是说好像低于卅岁一些，但也有可能高于卅岁一些。把年龄当作一个纵轴来看，用“上下”是完全可以的。但是您提到的50斤上下，的确我很少听人这样用，但是有种状况是，在第三人称事物上可以运用。例如：“那头猪看起来大概在壹千斤上下。”很少说“我的体重在七十斤上下”，但是有可能会说“我的体重常在七十斤上下徘徊”，所以端看使用时的语感及前后字的运用而定。

希望这样的回答对您能稍有帮助。

[252129036]

frankly speaking,there is no obvious difference between “左右” and "前后", if you must point out the difference between them, when you use them, you can judge them by your language sense, because they both can be used as the meaning of "about, approximate, more or lss and so on". i will give you two examples-two sentences:

i will go to beijing in the spring of next year. ("左右") vague time

i will go to beijing in the Spring Festival of next year.（“前后”）detailed time

but "上下"can be used for "third person".

if you want to use them frequently, you must read more and more passages, then you can master them well.

if you have any questions, you can contact me, i will help you. QQ:252129036

[metlx]

thank you