(pián yi) - cheap in Mandarin

piányi

Traditional: 便宜

HSK 2

#2128 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

cheap

Word origin

便宜 (pián yi) 'cheap' joins 便 and 宜. 便 (read pián here) carries a sense of convenient or advantageous, and 宜 (yí) means fitting or suitable. Read together as pián yi the phrase came to mean low in price, a bargain. The same first character is read biàn in words like 方便 (convenient).

Origin: compound
Root: 便 (pián, advantageous) + 宜 (yí, fitting)

Stroke order

便

宜

Examples

。

This piece of clothing is very cheap.

。

The things in this shop are fairly cheap.

。

Cheap things are not necessarily bad.

便宜 (pián yi) means cheap.

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Used in

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便宜: worksheet, infographic and listicle

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This word is part of lesson 18.