Meaning of 便宜
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- cheap; inexpensive
- a petty advantage
- to let sb off lightly
- convenient
How to use 便宜
便宜 (piányi) is the everyday word for cheap, used for prices and goods. It can also mean a small advantage, as in 占便宜 (zhàn piányi, to take advantage). Example: 这件衣服很便宜。(Zhè jiàn yīfu hěn piányi.) This piece of clothing is very cheap.
便 (biàn) means convenient and 宜 (yí) means suitable. Something that is handy and fits your budget is easy to buy, so 便宜 came to mean cheap.
Common mistake: Learners often read 便 as biàn here because of 方便 (fāngbiàn). In 便宜 meaning cheap it is pián, and 宜 is usually said in the neutral tone: piányi.
便宜 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
便 biàn · plain · 9 strokes
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宜 yí · fitting · 8 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 便宜.
| 随便 | suíbiàn | as one wishes; as one pleases |
| 方便 | fāngbiàn | convenient; suitable; to facilitate; to make things easy |
| 方便面 | fāngbiànmiàn | instant noodles |
| 以便 | yǐbiàn | so that; so as to |
| 便利 | biànlì | convenient; easy |
| 便条 | biàntiáo | (informal) note |
| 便于 | biànyú | easy to; convenient for |
| 便是 | biàn shì | (emphasizes that sth is precisely or exactly as stated); precisely |
| 不便 | bùbiàn | inconvenient; inappropriate |
| 顺便 | shùnbiàn | conveniently; in passing |
| 即便 | jíbiàn | even if; even though |
| 粪便 | fènbiàn | excrement; feces |
Questions about 便宜
What does 便宜 mean?
便宜 (piányi) means "cheap; inexpensive; a petty advantage" and is used as a adjective and noun.
How do you write 便宜?
便宜 is made of 2 characters: 便 (9 strokes), 宜 (8 strokes). That is 17 strokes in total.
Is 便宜 an HSK word?
Yes. 便宜 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do you say something is too expensive or ask for a lower price using 便宜?
You can say 能便宜一点吗？(Néng piányi yìdiǎn ma?) Can you make it a bit cheaper? Here 便宜 acts like a verb meaning to lower the price.
Does 便宜 have a negative meaning like cheap quality in English?
Not by itself. 便宜 mainly means low in price. To criticize poor quality, Chinese speakers add more words, as in 便宜没好货 (piányi méi hǎo huò), cheap things are not good goods.