HSK 3 · Adjectives

方便 fāngbiàn “convenient” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 方便 means

  1. convenient
  2. suitable
  3. to facilitate
  4. to make things easy
  5. having money to spare
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • (euphemism) to relieve oneself

How to say 方便

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale方fāng1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale便biàn4th tone, falling

方便 in a sentence

  1. 您什么时候方便？

    Nín shénme shíhou fāngbiàn?

    When would it be convenient for you?

    Sentence #2299578 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 这方便得多了。

    Zhè fāngbiàn de duō le.

    That’s much more convenient.

    Sentence #713258 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 方便 can also be a polite way to say “to go to the toilet”

    我要去方便一下。

    Wǒ yào qù fāngbiàn yíxià.

    I need to go to the toilet.

    Sentence #9096138 from Tatoeba

How 方便 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 方 (fāng) drawn as one shape
方fāngsquare

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

The character 便 (pián) with each of its parts in a different colour
便biànplain
  • 亻person form of 人 · rén
  • 更more · gēng

How to write 方便

方 4 strokes · 便 9 strokes

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

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

Words related to 方便

Words with 方

北方běifāng · north地方dìfang · place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方fāng · square

Words with 便

便宜piányi · cheap方便面fāngbiànmiàn · instant noodles顺便shùnbiàn · conveniently随便suíbiàn · as one wishes便biàn · then便利biànlì · convenient便条biàntiáo · informal note便于biànyú · easy to即便jíbiàn · even if以便yǐbiàn · so that

More words: Adjectives

安静ānjìng · quiet差chà · differ from聪明cōngming · intelligent短duǎn · short in length干净gānjìng · clean更gèng · more坏huài · bad极jí · an extreme

FAQs

方便 (fāngbiàn) means “convenient” or “suitable”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it fāngbiàn: fāng with a 1st tone, then biàn with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 方便 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type fangbian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 方便 from the suggestions. Typing fangbian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
方便 is an HSK 3 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

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.