分 fēn — to divide; minute; (a measure word); (a unit of length = 0.33 centimeter); part
请把蛋糕分成六块。Qǐng bǎ dàn gāo fēn chéng liù kuài.Please divide the cake into six pieces.
Common words: 分钟 (fēn zhōng)、部分 (bù fen)、十分 (shí fēn)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "to divide"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "to divide", including 分 (fēn), 解 (jiě / jiè / xiè), 析 (xī), 隔 (gé). Study pinyin, English meanings…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "to divide" covers 4 different Chinese characters — 分 (fēn), 解 (jiě / jiè / xiè), 析 (xī), 隔 (gé) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 4 characters do not share a sound — their readings span fēn, jiě, jiè, xiè, xī, gé — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 分 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 分 fēnto divide; minute; (a measure word); (a unit of length = 0.33 centimeter); partUseful words: 分钟, 部分
- 解 jiě / jiè / xièto separate; to divide; to break up; to loosen; to explain; to untieUseful words: 了解, 解决
- 析 xīto separate; to divide; to analyzeUseful words: 分析, 解析
- 隔 géto separate; to stand or lie between; to divide; to cut offUseful words: 隔开, 隔壁
Common words for these 4 "to divide" characters
Anchor each of these 4 characters in a word you can picture — start with 分 (fēn) — so "to divide" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
分钟fēn zhōngminute部分bù fenpart; portion; piece; Taiwan pr.十分shí fēnvery; completely; utterly; extremely了解liǎo jiěto understand; to realize; to find out解决jiě juéto solve; to resolve; to settle (a problem); to eliminate理解lǐ jiěto comprehend; to understand分析fēn xīto analyze; analysis解析jiě xīto analyze; to resolve; (math.) analysis; analytic析出xī chūto separate out隔开gé kāito separate
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 4 ways to say "to divide".
解 jiě / jiè / xiè — to separate; to divide; to break up; to loosen; to explain; to untie
这道数学题我解不出来。Zhè dào shù xué tí wǒ jiě bu chū lái.I cannot solve this math problem.
Common words: 了解 (liǎo jiě)、解决 (jiě jué)、理解 (lǐ jiě)
析 xī — to separate; to divide; to analyze
老师帮我们分析了这道难题。Lǎo shī bāng wǒ men fēn xī le zhè dào nán tí.The teacher analyzed this difficult problem for us.
Common words: 分析 (fēn xī)、解析 (jiě xī)、析出 (xī chū)
隔 gé — to separate; to stand or lie between; to divide; to cut off
我和他家只隔着一条小河。Wǒ hé tā jiā zhǐ gé zhe yì tiáo xiǎo hé.My home and his are separated by only a small river.
Common words: 隔开 (gé kāi)、隔壁 (gé bì)、隔离 (gé lí)
All 4 characters
Open 分、解、析 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.