HSK 5 · Verbs

责备 zébèi “to blame” in Chinese

Traditional 責備

What 责备 means

  1. to blame
  2. to criticise
  3. condemnation
  4. reproach

How to say 责备

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale责zé2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale备bèi4th tone, falling

责备 in a sentence

  1. 我责备过他很多次了。

    Wǒ zébèi guo tā hěn duō cì le.

    I’ve told him off many times.

    Sentence #1415757 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 他责备了我的疏忽。

    Tā zébèi le wǒ de shūhu.

    He reproached me for my carelessness.

    Sentence #842131 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 别为玛丽犯的错责备汤姆。

    Bié wèi Mǎlì fàn de cuò zébèi Tāngmǔ.

    Don’t blame Tom for Mary’s mistake.

    Sentence #1394851 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 责备 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 责 (zé) with each of its parts in a different colour
责zéduty
  • 龶part of the character
  • 贝sea shell · bèi
The character 备 (bèi) with each of its parts in a different colour
备bèito prepare; to equip
  • 夂go · zhǐ
  • 田field · tián

How to write 责备

责 8 strokes · 备 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 责备

Words with 责

负责fùzé · to be in charge of责任zérèn · responsibility责怪zéguài · to blame指责zhǐzé · to criticise谴责qiǎnzé · to condemn

Words with 备

准备zhǔnbèi · to prepare具备jùbèi · to possess设备shèbèi · equipment戒备jièbèi · to guard against配备pèibèi · to equip完备wánbèi · complete筹备chóubèi · to prepare储备chǔbèi · reserves备份bèifèn · to back up装备zhuāngbèi · equipment

More words: Thinking & Talking

议论yìlùn · to comment犹豫yóuyù · to hesitate赞成zànchéng · to approve赞美zànměi · to admire争论zhēnglùn · to argue征求zhēngqiú · to solicit智慧zhìhuì · wisdom主张zhǔzhāng · to advocate

FAQs

责备 (zébèi) means “to blame” or “to criticise”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it zébèi: zé with a 2nd tone, then bèi 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, 责备 is written 責備. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zebei with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 责备 from the suggestions. Typing zebei into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
责备 is an HSK 5 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.