TongTong
Sign in

告别 (gào bié) — to say goodbye; to bid farewell

Definition

告别 means 'to say goodbye' to someone or something familiar, often with a sense of finality. More formal and weighty than 道别; 送别 focuses on the one staying behind.

verb
to say goodbyeto bid farewell

Examples

  • 告别。
    Wǒ míng tiān jiù yào gào bié jiā xiāng le.
    I will say goodbye to my hometown tomorrow.
  • 告别，。
    Tā hé péng you men gào bié hòu, yí gè rén qù le běi jīng.
    After saying goodbye to his friends, he went to Beijing alone.
  • ，告别，。
    Bì yè nà tiān, dà jiā hù xiāng gào bié, hěn duō tóng xué dōu kū le.
    On graduation day, everyone said goodbye to each other, and many classmates cried.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

告gàotell
别biéfarewell

告 gives 'tell' and 别 gives 'farewell', so the word means to say goodbye.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The origin is unclear: one theory sees 告 as 壴 (a decorated drum) above 口 (an open mouth), while another sees a tongue sticking out of 口.

Open 告 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 別; 别 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 別 pairs 冎 (bone) with 刀 (knife), showing a knife cutting up bone and flesh. The simplified 别 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical components.

Open 别 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Greetings & Politeness5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 5 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.