隔壁

gébì
noun HSK 5 #3,199

Meanings

  1. 1 next door
  2. 2 the neighbor; adjacent room/house

Characters

Separated by a wall — next door.

Examples

Gébì de línjū hěn chǎo.
The next-door neighbor is very noisy.
Tā zhù zài wǒ gébì.
He lives next door to me.
Gébì jiàoshì zài shàngkè.
The classroom next door is having class.
Gébì Lǎo Wáng shì gè hǎo rén.
Old Wang next door is a good person.

Tips

culture
隔壁 (gébì Lǎo Wáng, 'Old Wang next door') is a famous Chinese internet meme referring to a suspiciously friendly male neighbor. It's used humorously to imply an affair — similar to the Western 'mailman' joke.
usage
隔壁 is more specific than 邻居 (línjū, neighbor). 隔壁 means literally 'separated by a wall' — the immediately adjacent unit. 对面 (duìmiàn) = across the way. 楼上/楼下 = upstairs/downstairs.

Stroke Order