Pinyin Syllable

Chinese characters pronounced bian

Learn common Chinese characters pronounced bian, including 变 biàn, 便 biàn, 边 biān, 编 biān, 遍 biàn. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…

How to Pronounce This Syllable

Build bian by sliding from b straight into ian; the tone rides over the joined sound, so treat it as one unit.

Initial b

Start the syllable on the initial b, then run straight into the final ian — keep them joined instead of sounding out separate English letters.

Final ian

Settle the final ian into a steady mouth shape first, then lay the tone on top.

Study Tip

Start with the most common characters (变 biàn, 便 biàn, 边 biān, 编 biān, 遍 biàn) and lock in their tones. 9 common characters share the sound bian, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.

Learn by Tone

bian turns up here with 3 different tones; a change of tone usually means a different character, so the groups below are split by tone.

1st tone

Taking the 1st tone here: 边, 编, 鞭 (3 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

边biānside; edge; margin; border; boundary 编biānweave; plait; organize; group; arrange; edit 鞭biāna whip or lash; to flog; slash or whip

3rd tone

Taking the 3rd tone here: 扁 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

扁biǎn / piānflat; tablet; inscription; (surname); small boat; Polygonum aviculare

4th tone

Taking the 4th tone here: 变, 便, 遍… (5 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

变biànto change; to become different; to transform; to vary; rebellion 便biànordinary; plain; convenient; handy; easy; then 遍biàna time; everywhere; turn; all over; one time 辩biàndispute; debate; argue; discuss 辨biàndistinguish; recognize

Common Words With This Sound

Seeing bian inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.

改变gǎi biànto change; to alter; to transform 变成biàn chéngto change into; to turn into; to become 变化biàn huà(intransitive) to change; to vary; change; variation 便宜biàn yíconvenient 方便fāng biànconvenient; suitable; to facilitate; to make things easy 随便suí biànas one wishes; as one pleases; at random; negligent 一边yī biānone side; either side; on the one hand; on the other hand 旁边páng biānside; adjacent place 那边nà bianover there; yonder 编辑biān jíto edit; to compile; editor; compiler

Characters

9 common characters in this group.

Character#1 变 biànto change; to become different; to transform; to vary; rebellionTraditional: 變 Character#2 便 biànordinary; plain; convenient; handy; easy; thenTraditional: 便 Character#3 边 biānside; edge; margin; border; boundaryTraditional: 邊 Character#4 编 biānweave; plait; organize; group; arrange; editTraditional: 編 Character#5 遍 biàna time; everywhere; turn; all over; one timeTraditional: 遍 Character#6 辩 biàndispute; debate; argue; discussTraditional: 辯 Character#7 扁 biǎn / piānflat; tablet; inscription; (surname); small boat; Polygonum aviculareTraditional: 扁 Character#8 辨 biàndistinguish; recognizeTraditional: 辨 Character#9 鞭 biāna whip or lash; to flog; slash or whipTraditional: 鞭