辨

biàn
verb #10,380

Meanings

  1. 1 to distinguish
  2. 2 to recognize
  3. 3 to differentiate

Examples

HSK 4
Nǐ néng biàn chū zhè liǎng zhǒng chá de qūbié ma?
Can you distinguish between these two types of tea?
HSK 4
Zhēnjiǎ nán biàn.
It's hard to tell the real from the fake.

Tips

mistakes
Don't confuse 辨 (to distinguish), 辩 (to debate), and 辫 (braid). All are biàn but have different meanings and right-side components.

Components

radical
刂 dāo
knife (radical form of 刀)
Middle 刂 - side-knife radical, the indexing radical of 辨. Carries the meaning of cutting one thing apart from another: discrimination is mental dissection, splitting truth from falsehood. The knife sitting between the two 辛 panels gives the literal picture of a judge severing two arguments - the act of distinguishing.
semantic
辛 xīn
pungent; punishment knife
Left 辛 - pictograph of a tattoo knife used to brand criminals, meaning 'penal hardship.' In 辨 it stands for one of two charges set against each other in legal dispute. The doubled 辛 in 辨/辩/辫 represents the two sides of a courtroom - prosecution and defence whose statements must be weighed apart.
semantic
辛 xīn
pungent; the second party
Right 辛 - mirror image of the left, the other party in the dispute. Together with the central knife the three pieces depict 'two cases separated by a blade,' an unmistakable picture of judicial discrimination. Sister characters 辩 (言 in the middle: argue with words) and 辫 (糸 in the middle: braid separating strands) preserve the same two-辛 framework.

Stroke Order

辨 biàn