HSK 2 · Modal Verbs

别 bié “don’t” in Chinese

Traditional 別

What 别 means

  1. don’t
  2. other
  3. to leave
  4. to part (from)
  5. (dialect) to turn away
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • to turn aside
  • to avert (one’s face, gaze etc)
  • (bound form) other
  • another
  • different
  • don’t …!

How to say 别

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale别bié2nd tone, rising

别 in a sentence

  1. 请你别迟到。

    Qǐng nǐ bié chídào.

    Please don’t be late.

    Sentence #9631901 from Tatoeba

  2. 别客气，我很愿意帮助你。

    Bié kèqi, wǒ hěn yuànyì bāngzhù nǐ.

    Don’t mention it — I’m happy to help you.

    Sentence #11837117 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我经常忘记别人的名字。

    Wǒ jīngcháng wàngjì biéren de míngzi.

    I often forget other people’s names.

    Sentence #395528 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 别 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 别 (bié) with each of its parts in a different colour
别biéto leave; to part
  • 另another · lìng
  • 刂knife form of 刀 · dāo

Memory aidA knife 刂 cutting things apart: to separate. As a command, 别 means “don't”.

How to write 别

别 7 strokes

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

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

Words related to 别

Words with 别

别人biéren · other people特别tèbié · special别的biéde · other区别qūbié · difference性别xìngbié · gender分别fēnbié · to part告别gàobié · to say goodbye个别gèbié · individual别墅biéshù · villa鉴别jiànbié · to distinguish

More words: Modal Verbs & Connectors

可以kěyǐ · can可能kěnéng · maybe要yào · want为什么wèishénme · why所以suǒyǐ · so但是dànshì · but虽然suīrán · although再zài · again

FAQs

别 (bié) means “don’t” or “other”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it bié: bié with a 2nd 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, 别 is written 別. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type bie with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 别 from the suggestions. Typing bie into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
别 is an HSK 2 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.