非

Tap the pinyin to hear it

to not be; not; wrong; incorrect; non-; un-; in-; de-; to reproach; to blame; (coll.) to insist on; simply must

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

Two bird's wings opposed; two people back-to-back

non- · Heisig RSH #1267

— as a component also called: jail cell

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
非常	fēi cháng	very; really; unusual; extraordinary
无事生非	wú shì shēng fēi	to make trouble out of nothing
非国家行为体	fēi guó jiā xíng wéi tǐ	non-state actor
非国大	Fēi guó dà	African National Congress, ANC; abbr. for 非洲人國民大會\|非洲人国民大会[Fei1 zhou1 ren2 guo2 min2 da4 hu…
非动物性	fēi dòng wù xìng	inanimacy
非机动车	fēi jī dòng chē	non-motorized vehicle
非线性光学	fēi xiàn xìng guāng xué	nonlinear optics (physics)
非人化	fēi rén huà	dehumanization
亚非拉	Yà Fēi Lā	Asia, Africa and Latin America
非线性	fēi xiàn xìng	nonlinear (math.)
非利士人	Fēi lì shì rén	the Philistines, who settled on the southern coast of Palestine in the 12th century BC
非军事区	fēi jūn shì qū	demilitarized zone
阿非利加	Ā fēi lì jiā	Africa
非利士地	Fēi lì shì dì	Philistia, aka the Land of the Philistines
非死不可	Fēi sǐ bù kě	Facebook (Internet slang, pun reading "you must die")
非同小可	fēi tóng xiǎo kě	extremely important; no small matter
非人	fēi rén	inhuman; (literary) an unworthy person (to appoint, to marry etc)
南非语	Nán fēi yǔ	Afrikaans (language)
中非	Zhōng Fēi	China-Africa
中非	Zhōng fēi	Central Africa; Central African Republic (abbr. for 中非共和國\|中非共和国[Zhong1 fei1 Gong4 he2 guo2…

These characters use 非 as their sound component — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
非 sound part	fēi	not, negative, non-; to oppose
排	pái	row, rank, file; to eliminate, to remove
悲	bēi	sorrow, sadness, grief; to be sorry
菲	fēi	fragrant; rich, luxuriant; the Philippines
辈	bèi	generation, lifetime; contemporary
啡	fēi	coffee; morphine
匪	fěi	bandits, robbers, gangsters
斐	fěi	graceful, elegant, beautiful
腓	féi	leg, calf; to wither, to decay
蜚	fēi	cockroach
翡	fěi	kingfisher; jade, emerald
俳	pái	actor; vaudeville show; insincere
鲱	fēi	herring
扉	fēi	door panel
痱	fèi	heat rash; prickly heat; ulcers
绯	fēi	crimson, scarlet; purple
诽	fěi	to condemn, to slander, to vilify
裴	péi	flowing gown; surname
悱	fěi	overcome with emotion; at a loss for words