辈 (bèi): generation
辈 (bèi) is a Chinese character meaning “generation.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 非 (phonetic) and 车 (semantic). It ranks #1468 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 辈 wheel. Its radical form 车 (cart) appears in many related characters such as 车 (chē, vehicle), 轻 (qīng, light), 辆 (liàng, measure word for vehicles).
Definitions
- generation
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 辈 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 辈
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 辈子noun | bèi zi | all one's life |
| 半辈子noun | bàn bèi zi | half of a lifetime |
| 前辈noun | qián bèi | senior |
| 下辈子noun | xià bèi zi | the next life |
| 先辈noun | xiān bèi | an older generation |
| 父辈noun | fù bèi | people of one's parents' generation |
| 鼠辈noun | shǔ bèi | a scoundrel |
| 上辈子noun | shàng bèi zi | one's ancestors |
| 祖辈noun | zǔ bèi | ancestors |
| 后辈noun | hòu bèi | younger generation |
| 老一辈noun | lǎo yī bèi | older generation |
| 小辈noun | xiǎo bèi | the younger generation |
| 无名之辈phrase | wú míng zhī bèi | unknown person |
| 等闲之辈phrase | děng xián zhī bèi | (in the negative) (not) to be trifled with |
| 同辈verb | tóng bèi | of the same generation |
辈 appears in 39 compound words: 10 as the first character, 67 as the last, and 23 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 辈 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
Example Sentences
我们是同辈人，有很多共同话题。
Wǒmen shì tóngbèi rén, yǒu hěn duō gòngtóng huàtí.
We are of the same generation and have many common topics.
“真的不要闹耶!”长辈喊捏婴鼻子才会挺
zhēn de bù yāo nào 耶 ! cháng bèi hǎn niē yīng bí zǐ cái huì tǐng
“Seriously, stop messing around!” The older person shouted, pinching the baby’s nose to make it stick up.
...女儿揭“5分钟拔管过程” 泪崩曝遗物:一辈子留着
. . . nǚ ér jiē fēn zhōng bá guǎn guò chéng lèi bēng pù yí wù yī bèi zǐ liú zhe
... The daughter revealed the "5-minute extubation process" and burst into tears to expose the relics: keep them for a lifetime
...时合照获签名 江坤宇:王贞治是传奇激励后辈
. . . shí gě zhào huò qiān míng jiāng 坤 yǔ wáng zhēn zhì shì chuán qí jī lì hòu bèi
... The group photo was signed Jiang Kunyu: Wang Zhenzhi is a legend who inspires his younger generations
健康网》家中长辈21项警讯 网红医:恐认知障碍前兆
jiàn kāng wǎng jiā zhōng cháng bèi xiàng jǐng xùn wǎng hóng yī kǒng rèn zhī zhàng ài qián zhào
Health Network" 21 warning signs for elders in the family Internet celebrity doctor: fear of precursors to cognitive impairment
...召卸任 10年幕僚全说了:跟助理吃苦的长辈
. . . zhào xiè rèn nián mù liáo quán shuō le gēn zhù lǐ chī kǔ de cháng bèi
... The staff who have been in office for 10 years have all said: the elders who suffer with their assistants
你竟敢这样对长辈说话？！
Nǐ jìnggǎn zhèyàng duì zhǎngbèi shuōhuà?!
How dare you speak like that to your elders and betters!
你这辈子什么时候开心过吗？
Nǐ zhè bèizi shénmeshíhou kāixīn guo ma?
What's the last thing you were ever happy about?
我一辈子也不会忘记你的大恩大德。
Wǒ yībèizi yě bù huì wàngjì nǐ de dà ēn dà dé.
I will never forget your kindness as long as I live.
我一辈子都是个流浪者。
Wǒ yībèizi dōu shì gè liúlàngzhě.
I'm a nomad for life.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 车 (wheel) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 辈 (bèi) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 辈 and 排?
How many strokes does 辈 have?
What is the radical of 辈?
What are the components of 辈?
What are common words containing 辈?
What characters sound the same as 辈 (bèi)?
Is 辈 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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