HSK 6 · Ideas

演变 yǎnbiàn “to evolve” in Chinese

Traditional 演變

What 演变 means

  1. to evolve
  2. to develop

How to say 演变

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale演yǎn3rd 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

演变 in a sentence

  1. 起初的天灾迅速演变为了人祸。

    Qǐchū de tiānzāi xùnsù yǎnbiàn wéi le rénhuò.

    What began as a natural disaster quickly turned into a man-made one.

    Sentence #10272653 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 演变 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 演 (yǎn) with each of its parts in a different colour
演yǎnto perform; to stage
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
  • 寅part of the characterSound part
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 演变

演 14 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.

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

Words related to 演变

Words with 演

演出yǎnchū · to act (in a play)演员yǎnyuán · actor or actress表演biǎoyǎn · to perform演讲yǎnjiǎng · speech导演dǎoyǎn · director (of a film or play)演绎yǎnyì · to deduce演习yǎnxí · military exercise扮演bànyǎn · to play the role of演奏yǎnzòu · to perform (on an instrument)

Words with 变

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

More words: Ideas & Concepts

修养xiūyǎng · self-cultivation雪上加霜xuěshàngjiāshuāng · one misfortune after another (lit. frost on top of snow)循环xúnhuán · cycle须知xūzhī · notice眼光yǎnguāng · vision要点yàodiǎn · main point要素yàosù · key element遗产yíchǎn · heritage

FAQs

演变 (yǎnbiàn) means “to evolve” or “to develop”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it yǎnbiàn: yǎn 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, 演变 is written 演變. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type yanbian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 演变 from the suggestions. Typing yanbian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
演变 is an HSK 6 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.