“To leave”: zǒu 走 vs. líkāi 离开 vs. liú 留 To - Cchatty

“To leave”: zǒu 走 vs. líkāi 离开 vs. liú 留

To say “leave” in the sense of to go out or depart, and when there is no direct object, use zǒu 走:

She just left.
Tā gānggāng zǒu le.
她刚刚走了。

To say “leave” when you talk of leaving a certain place, use líkāi 离开:

She left Beijing last year.
Tā qùnián líkāi le Běijīng.
她去年离开了北京。

He was 18 (years old) when he left home.
Tā shíbāsuì de shíhou líkāi le jiā.
他十八岁的时候离开了家。

To say “leave” a person or people, also use líkāi 离开:

20 years ago he left his wife and children and went to Africa by himself.
Èrshí nián qián, tā líkāi le tāde qīzǐ hé háizi, yíge rén dào Fēizhōu qù le.
二十年前，他离开了他的妻子和孩子，一个人到非洲去了。

To say “leave” in the sense of to leave something somewhere, use liú 留:

If you leave your backpack here, then you can go in.
Rúguǒ nǐ bǎ nǐde bēibāo liúzài zhèilǐ, nǐ jiù kéyǐ jìnqu.
如果你把你的背包留在这里，你就可以进去。