HSK 6 · Ideas

比方 bǐfang “example” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 比方 means

  1. example
  2. analogy
  3. for instance
  4. illustrative example

How to say 比方

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale比bǐ3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own方fangneutral tone, light and short

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

比方 in a sentence

  1. 打个比方，学语言就像学游泳。

    Dǎ ge bǐfang, xué yǔyán jiù xiàng xué yóuyǒng.

    To give an example, learning a language is like learning to swim.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 比方说，你可以每天学五个生词。

    Bǐfang shuō, nǐ kěyǐ měitiān xué wǔ ge shēngcí.

    For instance, you could learn five new words a day.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 比方 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 比 (bǐ) with each of its parts in a different colour
比bǐto compare
  • 匕spoon · bǐ
  • 匕spoon · bǐ

Memory aidTwo people 匕 side by side: to compare.

The character 方 (fāng) drawn as one shape
方fāngsquarelight in 比方

方 is a single shape of 4 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

How to write 比方

比 4 strokes · 方 4 strokes

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

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

Words related to 比方

Words with 比

比bǐ · compared to比较bǐjiào · compare比赛bǐsài · sports match比如bǐrú · for example对比duìbǐ · to contrast比例bǐlì · proportion无比wúbǐ · incomparable比喻bǐyù · metaphor比重bǐzhòng · proportion

Words with 方

北方běifāng · north地方dìfang · place方便fāngbiàn · convenient南方nánfāng · the south西方xīfāng · the West东方dōngfāng · the East方便面fāngbiànmiàn · instant noodles方法fāngfǎ · method方面fāngmiàn · respect方向fāngxiàng · direction

More words: Ideas & Concepts

变迁biànqiān · changes辩证biànzhèng · dialectical弊病bìbìng · drawback弊端bìduān · abuse比喻bǐyù · metaphor比重bǐzhòng · proportion步伐bùfá · pace布局bùjú · layout

FAQs

比方 (bǐfang) means “example” or “analogy”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it bǐfang: bǐ with a 3rd tone, then fang with a neutral tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 比方 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type bifang with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 比方 from the suggestions. Typing bifang into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
比方 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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.