差不多 vs 左右

[FredricHenry]

Hello, Chinese-forums!

 

This is my first post and I must say the environment on these boards is really great.

 

My question is what is the difference between 差不多 and 左右? I am only a medium-leveled beginner and I understand that there are a multitude of ways to say things (just as there are in English), but I have heard 左右 used more frequently than 差不多. 

 

I discovered 左右 through my Pimsleur Level 2 materials and 差不多 from Chinese Grammar Wiki (http://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/ASG1NAXO). I tried researching the question on the forums before posting but all I could find was this unanswered question (http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/1502-我念了差不多一年的中文了-or-我差不多念了/?p=12660).

 

Thanks,

 

Fred

[waynefn]

refer to the dictionary,差不多 is adj,左右 is aux,they both have meaning "appoximately"

差不多 means (time,distance,degree)nearly

左右 means "about"

look at this example:

 

(the watch is worthabout eighty yuan.)

这只手表值80元左右.

这只手表差不多值80元.

 

for me, i think they have samilar meaning, just different in the location of grammar

[melodyhuang1]

they are familiar but not the same meaning.

for example:

it takes me about 30Yuan.

它花了我差不多30块，means not more than 30, it is close to 30.

 

它花了我30块左右。it means it may less than 30 (左）or more than 30（右）.

 

please see the Pic below.

 

Is that clear now?

 

I am Chinese, nice to meet you here.

[Kelby]

From my understanding 左右can only be used with numbers, e.g., 一百块钱左右.

差不多 can be used for both numbers and non numerical things. E.g.;

1.差不多六千块钱。(it is) about 6,000 RMB

2. 差不多这个意思。(this is) about this meaning/ pretty much the meaning.

Here's hoping better grammarians than me come by to give you some more details.

[melodyhuang1]

Dear Kelby:

let me explain you the other meaning of 左右。

 

for example:

别说太多了，否则你会左右到他的判断的。

don't talk too much, otherwise, you will have great fluence over his judgement. 

 

here the meaning of 左右 means sth could affect SB's mind or action....and so on...

[Baron]

As far as I'm aware, Kelby, you're correct in that 左右 is just used with numbers. Like melodyhuang1 pointed out 左 indicates less, and 右 more, so it can only be used with things that can be seen to exist on a sliding scale. You can't say *那个意思左右 because it's impossibe to quantify 'wrongness'.

 

差 means either lacking (缺欠)  or not the same as (不同，不相合) so with numbers numbers and quantities 差不多 means 'a little less than' (it's not far off), and with unquantifyable things it means 'about', 'pretty much' etc (close, but no cigar)

 

Those uses are all adverbial uses. In the example above '别说太多了，否则你会左右到他的判断的。', 左右 is a verb, so it's not exactly related to the useage of 左右 as a modifier.