别 (bié): to leave; to part (from)

Meanings

1 to leave; to part (from)
2 to differentiate; to distinguish
3 other; another; different
4 don't (negative imperative)
5 to fasten with a pin or clip

Characters

别

bié

to part; other; don't; to pin

Examples

别走！

Bié zǒu!

Don't go!

别担心，没问题。

Bié dānxīn, méi wèntí.

Don't worry, it's no problem.

我们今天一别，不知何时再相见。

Wǒmen jīntiān yī bié, bùzhī héshí zài xiāngjiàn.

We part today — I don't know when we will meet again.

她在胸前别了一朵花。

Tā zài xiōngqián bié le yì duǒ huā.

She pinned a flower to her chest.

你要茶还是别的？

Nǐ yào chá háishì biéde?

Want some tea or something else?

Tips

grammar

Imperative 别 is the everyday way to tell someone not to do something — always followed by a verb: 别说话 (don't talk), 别走 (don't go). Compare with 不 (general negation) and 没 (past negation). The same 别 also covers 'other / another' as a bound modifier (别人, 别的, 别国) and the verb 'to part' (告别, 分别).

memory

The character pictures a knife 刂 splitting something into a separate piece 另. Every modern sense radiates from that splitting image: cutting apart → distinguishing → 'other' (the separated one) → 'don't' (cut it off, stop doing that) → parting from someone (separating). The fourth-tone 别 reading in 别扭 comes from a different ancestor character 彆 — same simplified shape, unrelated meaning ('stubborn / contrary').

Components

radical

刂 dāo

knife (radical form)

Right knife radical — the vertical form of 刀. Supplies the original meaning: 别 = to cut apart. The 'don't' command is a much later semantic extension (don't do that = cut it off), but the splitting image stays the etymological anchor. Same radical in 刚, 划, 到, 利.

semantic

另 lìng

other; separate

Left 另 — itself meaning 'separate / another', stacking 口 (mouth) over 力 (force). Carries the core sense of separation. The original meaning of 别 was 'to split apart with a knife', and from that splitting image both the 'other / another' and the imperative 'don't' senses developed.