(běi) - north in Mandarin
běiTraditional: 北
Translation
north
Word origin
北 (běi) 'north' is a pictograph of two people standing back to back. Its original sense was 'back' or 'to turn the back', and because traditional Chinese houses faced south, the back of the building faced north, so the character came to mean the north direction. The original 'back' sense was then written with a new character 背 (bèi), which adds the flesh radical.
- Origin
- pictograph
- Root
- two people standing back to back
Stroke order
北
Examples
。
My home is on the north side of the city.
冬。
Winters in the north are very cold.
。
Walk north and you will reach the seaside.
北 (běi) means north.
Used in
Grammar articles
(13)Mandarin Grammar Cheatsheet: The Essentials, One Page
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Mandarin Comparatives: 比, 比较, 最, 跟…一样 and How to Say 'More', 'Most', 'Same As'
Mandarin Verb Conjugation: Why It Doesn't Exist and What Replaces It
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The Experiential 过 (guò) in Mandarin: Saying You Have Ever Done Something
Mandarin Intermediate Grammar (B1-B2 / HSK 4-5): Complements, Conjunctions and the Full 了 System
Mandarin Location and Existence: 在 for Where, 有 for There Is, and the 上/下/里/外 Position Words
Mandarin Modal Verbs: 会, 想, 要, 应该, 可以, 能 and the Future-Intent Words 打算, 准备
Mandarin Numbers, Time, Dates, and Currency: From 1 to 1,000,000, the 二/两 Split, and Time-Before-Verb
Serial Verb Constructions in Mandarin: 我去商店买东西 and Stacking Verbs in Sequence
The Mandarin 是…的 (shì...de) Construction: Highlighting When, Where, and How Something Happened
Mandarin Word Order: SVO, Topic-Comment, and the 把 Construction That Reorders Everything
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Go to my review queueThis word is part of lesson 8.