Meaning of 普遍
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- universal
- general
- widespread
- common
How to use 普遍
普遍 describes something common across many people or places, and it often appears before a noun or in the pattern 很普遍. It can also act like an adverb with 地 or on its own before a verb. Example: 这种现象很普遍。(Zhè zhǒng xiànxiàng hěn pǔbiàn.) This kind of phenomenon is very common.
普 (pǔ) means broad or general, as in 普通 (pǔtōng), and 遍 (biàn) means all over, as in 遍地 (biàndì). Something that is broad and found all over is 普遍, widespread.
Common mistake: Learners often use 普遍 where 普通 (pǔtōng) is needed. 普通 means ordinary or average, while 普遍 means widespread, so say 普通人 for an ordinary person, not 普遍人.
普遍 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.
普 pǔ · widespread · 12 strokes
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遍 biàn · everywhere · 12 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 普遍.
| 普通 | pǔtōng | common; ordinary |
| 普通话 | pǔtōnghuà | Putonghua; standard Mandarin |
| 普及 | pǔjí | to spread extensively; to generalize |
| 遍地 | biàndì | everywhere; all over |
| 普通人 | pǔtōng rén | ordinary person; private citizen |
| 吉普 | jípǔ | Jeep (car brand) |
| 遍布 | biànbù | to cover the whole (area); to be found throughout |
| 科普 | kēpǔ | popularization of science (abbr. for 科學普及|科学普及[ke1 xue2 pu3 ji2]); (attributive) popular s |
| 一遍 | yībiàn | one time (all the way through); once through |
| 基普 | jīpǔ | kip (Laotian currency) |
| 找遍 | zhǎobiàn | to search everywhere; to search high and low |
| 普罗 | pǔluó | proletariat (loanword); abbr. for 普羅列塔利亞|普罗列塔利亚[pu3 luo2 lie4 ta3 li4 ya4] |
Questions about 普遍
What does 普遍 mean?
普遍 (pǔbiàn) means "universal; general" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 普遍?
普遍 is made of 2 characters: 普 (12 strokes), 遍 (12 strokes). That is 24 strokes in total.
Is 普遍 an HSK word?
Yes. 普遍 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Can 普遍 be used before a verb?
Yes. It often works like an adverb meaning generally or widely, as in 大家普遍认为 (dàjiā pǔbiàn rènwéi), people generally believe. 普遍地 is also possible but less common in speech.
What is the difference between 普遍 and 普及?
普遍 is an adjective describing something that is already widespread. 普及 (pǔjí) is usually a verb meaning to spread something or make it popular, such as 普及教育, to make education widely available.