HSK 6 · Clothing

辫子 biànzi “plait” in Chinese

Traditional 辮子

What 辫子 means

  1. plait
  2. braid
  3. pigtail
  4. a mistake or shortcoming that may be exploited by an opponent
  5. handle

Measure word 根 gēn or 条 tiáo · 一根辫子 yì gēn biànzi

How to say 辫子

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale辫biàn4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own子zineutral tone, light and short

Grey pinyin is a neutral tone: say it short and light. More on the neutral tone

辫子 in a sentence

  1. 她扎着辫子。

    Tā zā zhe biànzi.

    She wears her hair in plaits.

    Sentence #8865166 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 姐姐教我编辫子。

    Jiějie jiāo wǒ biān biànzi.

    My older sister taught me how to plait my hair.

    Sentence #13545614 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 你想让我帮你编辫子吗？

    Nǐ xiǎng ràng wǒ bāng nǐ biān biànzi ma?

    Would you like me to plait your hair?

    Sentence #13545612 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 辫子 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 辫 (biàn) with each of its parts in a different colour
辫biàna braid or queue
  • 辛bitter · xīnSound part
  • 纟silk form of 糸 · mìMeaning part
  • 辛bitter · xīnSound part

纟 hints at the meaning (silk); 辛 (xīn) hints at the sound. Compare it with biàn.

The character 子 (zi) with each of its parts in a different colour
子zinoun suffix, as in 椅子 “chair”
  • 了clear · le
  • 一one · yī

Memory aidA baby with its arms out and its legs wrapped up.

How to write 辫子

辫 17 strokes · 子 3 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

辫子 (biànzi) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 辫子 (biànzi). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 辫子

Words with 子

儿子érzi · son椅子yǐzi · chair桌子zhuōzi · table杯子bēizi · cup妻子qīzi · wife孩子háizi · child本子běnzi · book子zi · (common noun suffix)裤子kùzi · pants帽子màozi · hat

More words: Clothing & Appearance

时尚shíshàng · fashion手套shǒutào · glove围巾wéijīn · scarf项链xiàngliàn · necklace裁缝cáifeng · tailor兜dōu · pocket风度fēngdù · manner丰满fēngmǎn · plump

FAQs

辫子 (biànzi) means “plait” or “braid”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it biànzi: biàn with a 4th tone, then zi with a neutral tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 辫子 is written 辮子. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 根 (gēn) or 条 (tiáo). For example, one plait is 一根辫子 (yì gēn biànzi).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type bianzi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 辫子 from the suggestions. Typing bianzi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
辫子 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.