便

biàn / pián
adjective HSK 6 #1,220

Meanings

  1. 1 convenient; handy
  2. 2 plain; informal
  3. 3 then; in that case
  4. 4 even if
  5. 5 soon afterwards
  6. 6 to urinate or defecate; bodily waste

Examples

Zhèlǐ jiāotōng hěn fāngbiàn.
Transportation is convenient here.
Tā yī tīngdào xiāoxi, biàn lìkè chūfā le.
Once he heard the news, he immediately set off.
Qǐngwèn xǐshǒujiān zài nǎlǐ? wǒ xiǎng fāngbiàn yīxià.
Excuse me, where is the restroom? I need to go.

Tips

usage
Two readings: 便 (convenient / then / informal) covers the overwhelming majority of compounds - 方便, 顺便, 随便, 便利. 便 appears almost only in 便宜 (cheap) and the obese-sense 便便.
grammar
As an adverb, 便 is the literary cousin of - same meaning (then / right away / in that case), more formal register. Common in written Chinese and set phrases like 即便 (even if) and 以便 (so that).

Components

radical
rén
person (radical form)
Left person radical - the side-form of , a standing figure. The indexing radical (Kangxi #9). 便 is about people making things easier for themselves, so the human focus is literal. Same radical heads , , , - the bulk of person-related vocab.
phonetic
gēng
change; even more
Right component - historically supplies the sound (gēng → biàn, with heavy Old Chinese drift). It also carries a faint semantic echo: changing things to suit a person = adapting for convenience. The 便/便 split inside this character reflects two old branches of the same word.

Stroke Order

便 biàn