HSK 5 · Verbs

避免 bìmiǎn “to avoid” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 避免 means

  1. to avoid
  2. to prevent
  3. to avert
  4. to refrain from

How to say 避免

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale避bì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale免miǎn3rd tone, dipping

避免 in a sentence

  1. 我避免跟老板讨论个人话题。

    Wǒ bìmiǎn gēn lǎobǎn tǎolùn gèrén huàtí.

    I avoid discussing personal topics with my boss.

    Sentence #5684092 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  2. 为了避免情况恶化，我们马上采取了行动。

    Wèile bìmiǎn qíngkuàng èhuà, wǒmen mǎshàng cǎiqǔ le xíngdòng.

    We took action straight away so that things wouldn’t get worse.

    Sentence #534264 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 事故无法避免。

    Shìgù wúfǎ bìmiǎn.

    The accident was unavoidable.

    Sentence #1516175 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 避免 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 避 (bì) with each of its parts in a different colour
避bìto avoid
  • 辟law · bìSound part
  • 辶walking form of 辵 · chuòMeaning part

辶 hints at the meaning (walking); 辟 (bì) hints at the sound. Compare it with bì.

The character 免 (miǎn) with each of its parts in a different colour
免miǎnto excuse sb
  • ⺈knife form of 刀 · dāo
  • 口mouth · kǒu
  • 儿legs · ér

How to write 避免

避 16 strokes · 免 7 strokes

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

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

Words related to 避免

Words with 避

逃避táobì · to escape回避huíbì · to avoid

Words with 免

免费miǎnfèi · free (of charge)难免nánmiǎn · hard to avoid免疫miǎnyì · immunity不免bùmiǎn · inevitably免得miǎnde · so as not to未免wèimiǎn · rather以免yǐmiǎn · so as not to

More words: Common Verbs

包含bāohán · to contain保持bǎochí · to keep保存bǎocún · to conserve背bēi · to carry on one’s back表明biǎomíng · to make clear表现biǎoxiàn · to show补充bǔchōng · to replenish采取cǎiqǔ · to adopt or carry out (measures

FAQs

避免 (bìmiǎn) means “to avoid” or “to prevent”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it bìmiǎn: bì with a 4th tone, then miǎn with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 避免 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type bimian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 避免 from the suggestions. Typing bimian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
避免 is an HSK 5 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.