边 (biān): side, edge, margin
边 (biān) is a Chinese character meaning “side.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 辶 (semantic) and 力 (structural). It ranks #316 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 边 walk. Its radical form 辶 (walk) appears in many related characters such as 过 (guò, to pass, past), 还 (hái, still, return), 这 (zhè, this).
Definitions
- side
- edge
- margin
Etymology & Origin
pictophoneticwalk
Decomposition: ⿺辶力 (layout: surround-from-lower-left)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 边 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 边
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 那边pronoun | nà bian | over there | 1 |
| 这边pronoun | zhè biān | this side | 1 |
| 身边noun | shēn biān | at one's side | 3 |
| 一边adverb | yī biān | one side | 3 |
| 旁边noun | páng biān | side | 2 |
| 左边noun | zuǒ bian | left | 2 |
| 右边noun | yòu bian | right side | 2 |
| 路边noun | lù biān | curb | 3 |
| 外边noun | wài bian | outside | 1 |
| 周边noun | zhōu biān | periphery | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 边缘 | biān yuán | edge |
| 海边 | hǎi biān | coast |
| 边境 | biān jìng | frontier |
| 两边 | liǎng biān | either side |
| 湖边 | hú biān | lakeside |
| 靠边 | kào biān | to keep to the side |
| 边界 | biān jiè | boundary |
| 河边 | hé biān | river bank |
| 北边 | běi biān | north |
| 南边 | nán bian | south |
| 里边 | lǐ bian | inside |
| 东边 | dōng bian | east |
| 上边 | shàng bian | the top |
| 岸边 | àn biān | shore |
| 后边 | hòu bian | the back |
边 appears in 100 compound words: 41 as the first character, 59 as the last, and 0 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 边 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
to not care about one's appearance; to be slovenly in dress and manner; to be unkempt
to not care about one's appearance; to be slovenly in dress and manner; to be unkempt
Example Sentences
这个问题困扰了我很久，直到昨天才找到答案。
Zhè gè wèntí kùnrǎo le wǒ hěn jiǔ, zhídào zuótiān cái zhǎo dào dá'àn.
This problem troubled me for a long time until I found the answer yesterday.
男子骑车出游经南横疑自撞护栏 坠边坡送医不治
nán zǐ qí chē chū yóu jīng nán héng yí zì zhuàng hù lán zhuì biān pō sòng yī bù zhì
The man was riding a bicycle through South Heng and was suspected of crashing into a guardrail and falling down a slope and was taken to hospital where he died
6旬骑士游南横公路自撞护栏 摔50米边坡丧命...撞击瞬间曝光
6 xún qí shì yóu nán héng gōng lù zì zhuàng hù lán shuāi 5 0 mǐ biān pō sāng mìng . . . zhuàng jī shùn jiān pù guāng
A 60-year-old knight traveled to Nanheng Highway and crashed into a guardrail and fell 50 meters down the slope and died... The impact was instantaneously exposed
新春走军营丨北部战区陆军某边防旅巡逻艇中队守望北疆..
xīn chūn zǒu jūn yíng 丨 běi bù zhàn ōu lù jūn mǒu biān fáng lǚ xún luó tǐng zhōng duì shǒu wàng běi jiāng . .
The new spring walk military camp丨Army in the northern theater of war a border guard brigade patrol boat squadron watch over the northern border ...
逛游乐场与家人失散,5岁女童坠入路边深井大哭,男子..
guàng yóu lè chǎng yú jiā rén shī sàn , suì nǚ tóng zhuì rù lù biān shēn jǐng dà kū , nán zǐ . .
Separated from her family at a playground, the 5-year-old girl fell into a roadside well and cried, and the man...
对话滞留俄罗斯“极光村”的中国游客:路两边的冰雪堆..
duì huà zhì liú é luó sī jí guāng cūn de zhōng guó yóu kè lù liǎng biān de bīng xuě duī . .
Dialogue with Chinese tourists stranded in Russia's "Aurora Village": Ice and snow piles on both sides of the road...
在那边游泳的男孩是谁？
Zài nàbian yóuyǒng de nánhái shì shéi?
Who's the boy that's swimming over there?
到那边需要多长时间？
Dào nàbian xūyào duō cháng shíjiān?
How long will it take to get there?
从这里到海边有多远？
Cóng zhèlǐ dào hǎibiān yǒu duō yuǎn?
How far is it from here to the sea?
我可以坐在你旁边吗？
Wǒ kěyǐ zuò zài nǐ pángbiān ma?
Can I sit beside you?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 边 (biān)?
Is 边 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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