HSK 4 · Objects

性别 xìngbié “gender” in Chinese

Traditional 性別

What 性别 means

  1. gender
  2. sex

How to say 性别

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale性xìng4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale别bié2nd tone, rising

性别 in a sentence

  1. 你的性别是什么？

    Nǐ de xìngbié shì shénme?

    What is your gender?

    Sentence #5836295 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  2. 这几件睡衣是不分性别的。

    Zhè jǐ jiàn shuìyī shì bù fēn xìngbié de.

    These pyjamas are unisex.

    Sentence #9694379 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 性别 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 性 (xìng) with each of its parts in a different colour
性xìngnature
  • 忄heart form of 心 · xīnMeaning part
  • 生life · shēngSound part

忄 hints at the meaning (heart); 生 (shēng) hints at the sound. Compare it with xìng.

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 性别

性 8 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.

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

Words related to 性别

Words with 性

性xìng · (suffix) -ness性格xìnggé · nature个性gèxìng · individuality性质xìngzhì · nature慢性mànxìng · chronic (illness)性命xìngmìng · life (of a person or animal)任性rènxìng · wilful性感xìnggǎn · sexy记性jìxing · memory (ability to remember)弹性tánxìng · elasticity

Words with 别

别bié · don’t别人biéren · other people特别tèbié · special别的biéde · other区别qūbié · difference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

效果xiàoguǒ · result笑话xiàohua · joke信封xìnfēng · envelope信心xìnxīn · confidence性格xìnggé · nature压力yālì · pressure牙膏yágāo · toothpaste样子yàngzi · appearance

FAQs

性别 (xìngbié) means “gender” or “sex”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it xìngbié: xìng with a 4th 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, 性别 is written 性別. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xingbie with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 性别 from the suggestions. Typing xingbie into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
性别 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.