HSK 4 · Objects

区别 qūbié “difference” in Chinese

Traditional 區別

What 区别 means

  1. difference
  2. to distinguish
  3. to discriminate
  4. to make a distinction

Measure word 个 gè · 一个区别 yí ge qūbié

How to say 区别

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale区qū1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale别bié2nd tone, rising

区别 in a sentence

  1. 你能告诉我红茶和绿茶的区别吗？

    Nǐ néng gàosu wǒ hóngchá hé lǜchá de qūbié ma?

    Can you tell me the difference between black tea and green tea?

    Sentence #813575 from Tatoeba

  2. 他来不来对我来说没区别。

    Tā lái bù lái duì wǒ lái shuō méi qūbié.

    It makes no difference to me whether he comes or not.

    Sentence #336961 from Tatoeba

  3. 这没有任何区别。

    Zhè méiyǒu rènhé qūbié.

    That makes no difference.

    Sentence #335016 from Tatoeba

How 区别 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 区 (qū) with each of its parts in a different colour
区qūarea
  • 匸hiding · xì
  • 乂to govern · yì
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 区别

区 4 strokes · 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.

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

Words related to 区别

Words with 区

小区xiǎoqū · residential estate区qū · district郊区jiāoqū · suburban district地区dìqū · region区域qūyù · area区分qūfēn · to distinguish社区shèqū · community

Words with 别

别bié · don’t别人biéren · other people特别tèbié · special别的biéde · other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: Everyday Things

脾气píqi · temper乒乓球pīngpāngqiú · table tennis桥qiáo · bridge情况qíngkuàng · circumstances缺点quēdiǎn · weak point任务rènwu · mission日记rìjì · diary沙发shāfā · sofa

FAQs

区别 (qūbié) means “difference” or “to distinguish”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it qūbié: qū with a 1st tone, then 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, 区别 is written 區別. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 个 (gè). For example, one difference is 一个区别 (yí ge qūbié).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type qubie with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 区别 from the suggestions. Typing qubie into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
区别 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.