TraceHanzi

比 meaning in English

bǐ

to compare; (followed by a noun and adjective) more {adj.} than {noun}

HSK 1prepositionverb4 strokes

Meaning of 比

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

bǐ
  1. to compare
  2. (followed by a noun and adjective) more {adj.} than {noun}
  3. ratio
  4. to gesture
  5. (Taiwan pr. [bi4] in some compounds derived from Classical Chinese)
Bǐ
  1. Belgium
  2. Belgian
  3. abbr. for 比利時|比利时[Bi3 li4 shi2]
bī
  1. euphemistic variant of 屄[bi1]

How to use 比

比 is most often used to make comparisons in the pattern A 比 B + adjective, meaning A is more adjective than B. It also appears in many common words like 比赛 (bǐsài, competition) and 比较 (bǐjiào, to compare). Example: 他比我高。(Tā bǐ wǒ gāo.) He is taller than me.

比 (bǐ) looks like two people standing side by side, facing the same way. When you put two things next to each other like that, you can compare them.

Common mistake: Learners often add 很 (hěn) or 非常 (fēicháng) before the adjective, as in 他比我很高, which is wrong. To show degree, put it after the adjective instead: 他比我高一点 (tā bǐ wǒ gāo yìdiǎn) or 他比我高得多 (tā bǐ wǒ gāo de duō).

比 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

时shí间jiān比bǐ你nǐ想xiǎng的de还hái要yào晚wǎn。
It's later than you think.
如rú果guǒ我wǒ要yào的de比bǐ他tā多duō呢ne？
What if I want it more than he does?
你nǐ干gàn活huó干gàn得de不bù比bǐ我wǒ少shǎo。
You don't work less than me.
没méi有yǒu比bǐ失shī去qù孩hái子zi更gèng伤shāng心xīn的de事shì。
There's nothing more painful than losing one's child.
不bù管guǎn是shì谁shuí总zǒng比bǐ没méi人rén好hǎo。
Anybody would be better than nobody.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

比 bǐ · to compare · 4 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4

Related words

Words that share a character with 比.

比如bǐrúfor example; for instance; such as
比如说bǐrú shuōfor example
比赛bǐsàicompetition (sports etc); match
比较bǐjiàoto compare; to contrast
相比xiāngbǐto compare
比例bǐlìproportion; scale
对比duìbǐto contrast; contrast
比分bǐfēnscore (of a game or competition)
比方bǐfanganalogy; illustrative example; for instance
比重bǐzhòngproportion; (physics) specific gravity
比起bǐqǐcompared with
无比wúbǐincomparable; matchless

Questions about 比

What does 比 mean?

比 (bǐ) means "to compare; (followed by a noun and adjective) more {adj.} than {noun}" and is used as a preposition and verb.

How do you write 比?

比 is made of 1 character: 比 (4 strokes). That is 4 strokes in total.

Is 比 an HSK word?

Yes. 比 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How do I say A is not taller than B using 比?

Put 不 before 比: 他不比我高 (tā bù bǐ wǒ gāo), meaning he is not taller than me, often implying we are about the same. To say A is less tall than B, Chinese usually uses 没有 instead: 他没有我高 (tā méiyǒu wǒ gāo).

How is 比 used to give sports scores or ratios?

比 works like the word to between two numbers. For example, 三比二 (sān bǐ èr) means three to two, used for match scores and ratios alike.

后Previous in HSK 1hòu