彼 (bǐ): that, those, (one) another
彼 (bǐ) is a Chinese character meaning “that.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 彳 (semantic) and 皮 (phonetic). It ranks #1249 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 彼 step. Its radical form 彳 (step) appears in many related characters such as 很 (hěn, very), 得 (dé, to obtain), 往 (wǎng, to go (in a direction)).
Definitions
- that
- those
- (one) another
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 彼 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 彼
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 彼得proper-noun | bǐ dé | Peter (name) |
| 圣彼得堡proper-noun | shèng bǐ dé bǎo | Saint Petersburg (city in Russia) |
| 圣彼得 | shèng bǐ dé | Saint Peter |
| 知己知彼phrase | zhī jǐ zhī bǐ | know yourself, know your enemy (idiom, from Sunzi's "The Art of War" 孫子兵法|孙子兵法) |
| 彼拉多proper-noun | bǐ lā duō | Pilate (Pontius Pilate in the Biblical passion story) |
| 彼得潘 | bǐ dé pān | Peter Pan, the novel character |
| 彼岸noun | bǐ àn | the other shore |
| 非此即彼phrase | fēi cǐ jí bǐ | either this or that |
| 此起彼伏phrase | cǐ qǐ bǐ fú | up here, down there (idiom) |
| 蒙彼利埃proper-noun | méng bǐ lì āi | Montpellier (French town) |
| 此消彼长phrase | cǐ xiāo bǐ zhǎng | (idiom) one declines while the other flourishes |
| 彼时pronoun | bǐ shí | at that time |
| 顾此失彼phrase | gù cǐ shī bǐ | lit. to attend to one thing and lose sight of another (idiom) |
| 彼拉提斯noun | bǐ lā tí sī | Pilates (physical fitness system) (Tw) |
| 厚此薄彼verb | hòu cǐ bó bǐ | to favour one and discriminate against the other |
彼 appears in 37 compound words: 46 as the first character, 14 as the last, and 41 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 彼 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (15)
synonym of 此起彼落 (cǐqǐbǐluò, “(of sounds) rising and falling; continuous; unceasing”)
to attend to one thing and lose sight of another; to be unable to take care of everything at once
to attend to one thing and lose sight of another; to be unable to take care of everything at once
Showing 12 of 15 idioms containing 彼.
Example Sentences
了解彼字的来源，有助于理解中国文化。
le xiè bǐ zì de lái yuán , yǒu zhù yú lǐ xiè zhōng guó wén huā .
Understanding the origin of the character "彼" helps to comprehend Chinese culture.
卡特彼勒金融服务公司启动新的中期票据计划
kǎ tè bǐ lè jīn róng fú wù gōng sī qǐ dòng xīn de zhōng qī piào jù jì huá
Caterpillar Financial Launches New Medium-Term Note Program
赵乐际指地缘冲突此起彼伏 携手前行才能应对全球风险挑战
zhào lè jì zhǐ dì yuán chōng tū cǐ qǐ bǐ fú xié shǒu qián háng cái néng yīng duì quán qiú fēng xiǎn tiāo zhàn
Zhao Leji noted that regional conflicts continue to flare up; only by working together can we address global risks and challenges
...夜蒲感情状况惹议 Elaine用9个字揭彼此关系
. . . yè 蒲 gǎn qíng zhuàng kuàng rě yì E l a i n e yòng 9 gè zì jiē bǐ cǐ guān xì
...Elaine's relationship status sparks controversy; she clarifies their relationship in nine words
“主动了解彼此的文化、价值观和生活方式”——访巴西....
zhǔ dòng le jiě bǐ cǐ de wén huà , jià zhí guàn hé shēng huó fāng shì — — fǎng bā xī . . . .
"Take the initiative to understand each other's culture, values and lifestyle" - visit to Brazil....
汤姆和苏彼此相爱。
Tāngmǔ hé sū bǐcǐ xiāng'ài.
Tom and Sue love each other.
尼古拉斯和玛利亚彼此相爱。
Ní gǔ lā sī hé Mǎlìyà bǐcǐ xiāng'ài.
Nicholas and Maria love each other.
我们希望在不久的将来邀请彼得去日本。
Wǒmen xīwàng zài bù jiǔ de jiānglái yāoqǐng Bǐdé qù Rìběn.
We wish to invite Peter to Japan in the near future.
彼得爱上了那个女孩。
Bǐdé àishàng le nàge nǚhái.
Peter fell in love with the girl.
彼得决定明天出发。
Bǐdé juédìng míngtiān chūfā.
Peter has decided to leave tomorrow.
Character Family
彳 Radical Family — Characters sharing the step radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 彼 (bǐ) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 彼 and 被?
How many strokes does 彼 have?
What is the radical of 彼?
What are the components of 彼?
What are common words containing 彼?
What characters sound the same as 彼 (bǐ)?
Is 彼 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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