HSK 4 · Verbs

改变 gǎibiàn “to change” in Chinese

Traditional 改變

What 改变 means

  1. to change
  2. to alter
  3. to transform

How to say 改变

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale改gǎi3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale变biàn4th tone, falling

改变 in a sentence

  1. 我想改变世界。

    Wǒ xiǎng gǎibiàn shìjiè.

    I want to change the world.

    Sentence #1962050 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我们无法改变过去。

    Wǒmen wúfǎ gǎibiàn guòqù.

    We can’t change the past.

    Sentence #3565121 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 如果你要改变主意，通知我。

    Rúguǒ nǐ yào gǎibiàn zhǔyi, tōngzhī wǒ.

    If you change your mind, let me know.

    Sentence #1325048 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 改变 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 改 (gǎi) with each of its parts in a different colour
改gǎito change
  • 己self · jǐ
  • 攵tap form of 攴 · pū
The character 变 (biàn) with each of its parts in a different colour
变biànto change
  • 亦also · yì
  • 又again · yòu

How to write 改变

改 7 strokes · 变 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 改变

Words with 改

改gǎi · to change改进gǎijìn · to improve改善gǎishàn · to make better改正gǎizhèng · to correct修改xiūgǎi · to amend改革gǎigé · reform改良gǎiliáng · to improve

Words with 变

变biàn · to change变化biànhuà · change变成biànchéng · to turn into转变zhuǎnbiàn · to change变质biànzhì · to go bad变故biàngù · misfortune变迁biànqiān · changes演变yǎnbiàn · to evolve

More words: Common Verbs

放暑假fàngshǔjià · to be on summer holidays符合fúhé · in keeping with负责fùzé · to be in charge of复印fùyìn · to photocopy赶gǎn · to hurry购物gòuwù · shopping够gòu · enough估计gūjì · to estimate

FAQs

改变 (gǎibiàn) means “to change” or “to alter”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it gǎibiàn: gǎi with a 3rd 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.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 改变 is written 改變. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type gaibian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 改变 from the suggestions. Typing gaibian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
改变 is an HSK 4 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.