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掉头 (diào tóu): Meaning, Examples & Usage

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HSK 3.0 Level 7-9
掉头

掉头 (diào tóu): Turn around / Do an about-face (Verb) — Meaning & Stroke Order

HSK 3.0Level 7-9

1.

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2.

Character Breakdown

掉头 consists of 2 characters.

lose; [as a complement after some verbs to indicate result of action]

head; top, end; first

Word Info

Pinyindiào tóu

MeaningTurn around / Do an about-face

Characters2

HSK 2.0—

HSK 3.0Level 7-9

SyntaxVerb

Word掉头

Zodiac CalculatorFind your zodiac animal

Related Words

More HSK vocabulary that shares characters with 掉头.

Words with 掉

掉队diào duìHSK 7-9
丢掉diū diào
关掉guān diào
去掉qù diào
忘掉wàng diào
掉膘diào biāo

Words with 头

头发tóu faHSK 3
头痛tóu tòngHSK 4
抬头tái tóuHSK 4
点头diǎn tóuHSK 4
低头dī tóuHSK 5
木头mù touHSK 5
石头shí touHSK 5
里头lǐ touHSK 5

3.

How to Use 掉头 in Sentences

Common collocations & usage patterns. Learn how to combine 掉头 with other words naturally.

Verb + Objectwith方向

diào掉

tóu头

fāng方

xiàng向

neutral

turn-around direction

Adverb + Verbwith立即

lì立

jí即

diào掉

tóu头

Verb + Adverbwith跑

diào掉

tóu头

jiù就

pǎo跑

Adjective + Nounwith标志

diào掉

tóu头

biāo标

zhì志

4.

Example Sentences with 掉头

qì汽

chē车

diào掉

tóu头

le了

。

The car turned around.

neutral

turn around immediately

informal

Spoken

turn and run

formal

Written

U-turn sign

qián前

fāng方

dào道

lù路

shī施

gōng工

，

suǒ所

yǒu有

chē车

liàng辆

bì必

xū须

lì立

jí即

diào掉

tóu头

rào绕

xíng行

。

Road construction ahead, all vehicles must immediately turn around and detour.

nǐ你

què确

dìng定

wǒ我

men们

bú不

yīng应

gāi该

zài在

zhè这

lǐ里

diào掉

tóu头

，

chóng重

xīn新

guī规

huà划

lù路

xiàn线

ma吗

？

Are you sure we shouldn't turn around here and replan our route?

zhè这

tiáo条

lù路

tài太

zhǎi窄

，

bù不

néng能

diào掉

tóu头

。

This road is too narrow to turn around.

yóu由

yú于

jiāo交

tōng通

yōng拥

dǔ堵

yán严

zhòng重

，

sī司

jī机

gēn根

běn本

wú无

fǎ法

diào掉

tóu头

。

Due to severe traffic congestion, the driver simply couldn't turn around.

tā他

yì意

shí识

dào到

fāng方

xiàng向

cuò错

wù误

hòu后

，

xùn迅

sù速

diào掉

tóu头

bìng并

jiā加

sù速

shǐ驶

xiàng向

zhèng正

què确

dào道

lù路

。

After realizing he was going the wrong way, he quickly turned around and accelerated towards the correct road.

tā他

gǎi改

biàn变

zhǔ主

yì意

，

jué决

dìng定

diào掉

tóu头

huí回

jiā家

。

He changed his mind and decided to turn back home.

hēi嘿

，

wǒ我

men们

hǎo好

xiàng像

zǒu走

cuò错

le了

，

zuì最

hǎo好

zài在

xià下

yí一

gè个

lù路

kǒu口

diào掉

tóu头

。

Hey, I think we took a wrong turn. We'd better turn around at the next intersection.