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隔壁 (gé bì) — next door (the adjacent room, house, or apartment); neighbor (the person living next door)

Definition

隔壁 means the adjacent unit or its occupant — the literal place (next door) or the person/family next door. 邻居 names a neighbor in general; 街坊 is a familiar, community-feeling term, often collective.

noun
next door (the adjacent room, house, or apartment)neighbor (the person living next door)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 隔壁。
    gé bì Zhù zhe yí duì lǎo fū qī.
    An elderly couple lives next door.
  • 隔壁。
    Wǒ jiā de gé bì shì yì jiā miàn bāo diàn.
    Next door to my house is a bakery.
  • 隔壁。
    gé bì De gǒu měi tiān wǎn shàng dōu jiào.
    The dog next door barks every night.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

隔géseparate
壁bìwall

隔 and 壁 suggest separation by a wall, hence next door.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阝Written in full as阜fùwall
Sound part声符shēngfú
鬲
鬲gé隔gé
Same sound today

隔 puts 阝, a wall, with 鬲, which gives the sound gé, to show separating with a wall.

Open 隔 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
辟
辟pì壁bì
Same sound today

壁 combines 土 (earth) and 辟, which gives the sound. The whole means an earthen wall.

Open 壁 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 5Home & Housing5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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