Meaning
north
Chinese: 北方。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “bei” becomes a different word in each tone. 北 is the 3rd tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 北边běi biānnorth; north side; northern part; to the north of
- 北方běi fāngnorth; the northern part a country; China north of the Yellow River
- 东北dōng běinortheast
- 西北xī běinorthwest
- 北部běi bùnorthern part
Example Sentence
北方的冬天很冷。Běi fāng de dōng tiān hěn lěng.Winters in the north are very cold.
北方Běi fāngnorth的deof冬天dōng tiānwinter很hěnvery冷lěngcold。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
Two people standing back to back. Its first meaning was ‘the back / to turn away’; since one faces south, the back faces north, so it came to mean ‘north’.
A way to remember it
Two figures back to back — turned away, toward the north.
Easy to confuse with
- 比‘To compare’: two people the same way round, side by side — not back to back.