别 (biè) · to make someone change their ways or opinions

Meanings

1 to make someone change their ways or opinions

Characters

别

biè

to make someone change their ways or opinions

Examples

HSK 6

这双新鞋穿起来真别扭。

Zhè shuāng xīn xié chuān qǐlái zhēn bièniu.

These new shoes feel really awkward to wear.

HSK 6

他们俩闹别扭三天了。

Tāmen liǎ nào bièniu sān tiān le.

The two of them have been sulking for three days.

Tips

usage

The fourth-tone reading 别 is bound - it only appears inside 别扭 (awkward / uncomfortable / at odds) and the verb 闹别扭 (to have a falling-out, to sulk). Never standalone. Everywhere else 别 is second tone.

history

biè comes from a different ancestor character 彆 - originally a bow-correcting frame, hence 'to bend stubbornly / to twist contrarily'. The 1956 simplification merged 彆 into 别, but the traditional script and the dictionary tradition keep them separate, which is why this reading stays a true polyphone rather than a tone variant.

Components

radical

刂 dāo

knife (radical form)

Right knife radical - the indexing position. On the 别 reading it again carries no real semantic role; the character looks identical to its bié cousin because simplification collapsed the older 彆 form into the same modern shape. The radical home address is preserved for lookup, nothing more.

semantic

另 lìng

other; separate

Left 另 - on the 别 reading the visible structure carries no semantic load. The shape was inherited when 彆 (the bow-correcting frame) was simplified into 别. The 'separate' image of 另 belongs to the bié reading, not this one.