比赛

• Pinyin: bǐ sài
• Hanzi breakdown: 比 = two people side by side, meaning to compare; 赛 = 宀 (roof) + 贝 (shell/money) components, meaning to compete

Meaning

Competition; match; contest; to compete. Any organised event where people compete against each other.

Used for sports matches, academic contests, talent competitions, and more. As a verb, means to compete or have a match. As a noun, refers to the competition itself. Very common in daily Chinese.

Examples

1. 明天我们学校有一场足球比赛。 There is a football match at our school tomorrow.
2. 她在唱歌比赛中获得了第一名。 She won first place in the singing competition.
3. 我们来比赛，看谁跑得快。 Let's have a race and see who runs faster.

Usage Guide

Context: sports, school, events

Tone: energetic

Do Say

• 你要参加这次演讲比赛吗？(Are you going to participate in this speech contest?)
• 比赛结果出来了。(The competition results are out.)

Don't Say

• 一个比赛 (Don't use 个 as the primary measure word — use 场 for a match: 一场比赛, or 次 for an occurrence: 一次比赛)

Origin & History

Compound of 比 (to compare) and 赛 (to compete), together meaning a competitive event.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal