比
2 readings · tap one to hear it
to compare; (followed by a noun and adjective) more {adj.} than {noun}; ratio; to gesture; (Taiwan pr. [bi4] in some compounds derived from Classical Chinese)
- HSK 3.0
- Level 1
- Old HSK
- Level 2
- Strokes
- 4
- Radical
- 比 itself
- Structure
- Left–right 左右
- Traditional
- 比
- Common rank
- #204
- Unicode
- U+6BD4
Sound it out + = · + =
Formation & memory
Break the character into parts you already know.
How 比 is formed
Ideographic compound (会意字)
Two spoons 匕 side-by-side; 匕 also provides the pronunciation
Components 匕 ×2
How to remember it
compare · Heisig RSH #456
spoon
Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.
Words with 比
The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 力大无比 | having matchless strength | |
| 人比人，气死人 | (proverb) constantly comparing oneself to others only leads to dissatisfaction and envy | |
| 比不上 | can't compare with | |
| 化学比色法 | chemical colorimetry | |
| 有得一比 | can be compared; to be very similar | |
| 人比人得死 | see 人比人，氣死人|人比人，气死人[ren2 bi3 ren2 , qi4 si3 ren2] | |
| 阿比西尼亚人 | Abyssinian (person) | |
| 不比 | unlike | |
| 利比里亚 | Liberia | |
| 卡拉比拉 | Karabilah (Iraqi city) | |
| 相比之下 | by comparison | |
| 比心 | (Internet slang) to form a hand heart using one's thumb and forefinger (or by using both h… | |
| 无比 | incomparable; matchless | |
| 比尔 | Bill (name) | |
| 力比多 | (loanword) libido | |
| 自比 | to liken oneself to (sb or sth) | |
| 利比亚 | Libya | |
| 拉比 | (loanword) rabbi | |
| 比利时 | Belgium | |
| 比利牛斯山 | Pyrenees mountains |
Sound family
These characters use 比 as their sound component — compare how they read.
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 比 sound part | to compare, liken; comparison; than | |
| 批 | comment, criticism; batch, lot; wholesale | |
| 屁 | to break wind, to fart; the buttocks | |
| 毕 | to finish, to conclude, to end; completed | |
| 庇 | cover, shield; to protect, to shelter; to harbor | |
| 毙 | to kill; to die a violent death | |
| 琵 | a guitar-like instrument (1) | |
| 吡 | to blame | |
| 毗 | to aid, to help; to adjoin, to connect | |
| 秕 | chaff, husk | |
| 蚍 | mussels, shellfish | |
| 蓖 | the castor-oil plant; Ricinus commumis | |
| 砒 | arsenic | |
| 妣 | one's deceased mother | |
| 枇 | loquat tree | |
| 纰 | carelessness; error, mistake; spoiled silk | |
| 貔 | fox, leopard, panther | |
| 仳 | separate, part company | |
| 舭 | bilge |