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不便 (bù biàn) — (adjective) inconvenient; (adjective) inappropriate, unsuitable; (verb) short of cash (usually used in 手头不便)

Definition

不便 is a formal adjective ('inconvenient, unsuitable') — the negative of 方便. 麻烦 is more colloquial and implies extra effort or annoyance; 不便 emphasizes awkwardness or poor timing.

adjective
inconvenientinappropriateunsuitable
verb
short of cash (usually used in 手头不便)

Examples

  • 不便。
    Zhè ge shí jiān qù tā jiā hěn bù biàn.
    It's very inconvenient to go to his house at this time.
  • 不便。
    Zài huì yì shàng shuō zhè zhǒng huà hěn bù biàn.
    Saying this kind of thing at a meeting is very inappropriate.
  • 不便，。
    Tā zuì jìn jīng jì bù biàn, suǒ yǐ méi yǒu cān jiā lǚ xíng.
    He has been short of cash lately, so he didn't join the trip.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

不bùnot
便biànconvenient

不 means not and 便 means convenient; together they describe something inconvenient.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

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

便 pairs 亻 (person) with 更 (to change), showing a person changing posture to become comfortable.

Open 便 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4Good & Bad

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