Meaning of 别人
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- other people; others; other person
How to use 别人
别人 is used for people other than the speaker or the person being discussed, often in sentences about what others think or do. In casual speech the second syllable is often said in the neutral tone, biéren. Example: 别人都走了。(Biérén dōu zǒu le.) Everyone else has left.
别 (bié) means other or different, and 人 (rén) means person. Put them together and you get the other person, anyone who is not you.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 别人 with 别的 (biéde). 别人 refers only to people, while 别的 means other and goes before a noun, as in 别的东西 (biéde dōngxi), other things. Also do not mix up 别人 with 别 (bié) meaning don't, as in 别走 (bié zǒu), don't go.
别人 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.
别 bié · to leave · 7 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
人 rén · person · 2 strokes
- 1
- 2
Related words
Words that share a character with 别人.
| 女人 | nǚrén | woman |
| 男人 | nánrén | a man; a male |
| 别的 | biéde | else; other |
| 家人 | jiārén | family member; (old) servant |
| 病人 | bìngrén | sick person; patient |
| 工人 | gōngrén | worker |
| 老人 | lǎorén | old man or woman; the elderly |
| 有人 | yǒu rén | someone; people |
| 人们 | rénmen | people |
| 特别 | tèbié | unusual; special; very; especially; particularly |
| 大人 | dàren | adult; grownup |
| 客人 | kèrén | visitor; guest; customer |
Questions about 别人
What does 别人 mean?
别人 (biérén) means "other people; others; other person" and is used as a pronoun.
How do you write 别人?
别人 is made of 2 characters: 别 (7 strokes), 人 (2 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 别人 an HSK word?
Yes. 别人 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 别人 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 别人 is written 別人.
What is the difference between 别人 and 其他人?
Both mean other people. 别人 is more casual and common in speech. 其他人 (qítā rén) sounds a bit more formal and usually means the rest of a specific group.
Can 别人 refer to me?
Yes, in some contexts a speaker uses 别人 to mean themselves indirectly, often to sound shy or to complain, as in 别人在跟你说话呢 (Biérén zài gēn nǐ shuōhuà ne), someone is talking to you here. This use is informal and depends on tone.