A meat offering arranged correctly on an altar under a roof. Suitable, fitting, appropriate; should or ought to. Roof (宀) over an altar/stand (且): place the offering just right.
宜 alone does not mean 'cheap' in modern Mandarin; the common word for cheap is 便宜.
宜 is not used as a standalone adjective with 很; it appears in fixed compounds like 适宜 or 不宜.
宜 means 'suitable' as a bound morpheme; 便宜 combines 便 (convenient) and 宜 (suitable) to mean 'cheap'.
In modern Mandarin, 宜 is a bound morpheme meaning 'suitable' or 'appropriate'. It cannot stand alone as an adjective. The word 便宜 (cheap) is a compound where the original sense of 'convenient and suitable' evolved into 'inexpensive'. So when you see 宜 in 便宜, it is not contributing the meaning 'cheap' by itself.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning of 宜 alone | suitable, appropriate (bound) | cheap |
| Common word for cheap | 便宜 | 宜 |
| Example with 宜 | 这个价格很适宜。 | 这个价格很宜。 |
宜 has a roof radical (宀) meaning 'suitable'; 谊 has a speech radical (讠) meaning 'friendship'.
Both characters are pronounced yí (or yì for 谊 in some contexts), but they have different radicals and meanings. 宜 (宀 + 且) relates to suitability or appropriateness, as in 适宜. 谊 (讠 + 宜) relates to friendship or camaraderie, as in 友谊. Pay attention to the radical to tell them apart.
| Dimension | 宜 | 谊 |
|---|---|---|
| Radical | 宀 (roof) | 讠 (speech) |
| Meaning | suitable, appropriate | friendship |
| Example | 适宜 (suitable) | 友谊 (friendship) |
This short, simple story follows a shopper's trip to the supermarket to buy apples. You'll learn useful vocabulary for shopping, prices, and comparing things.
大苹果很 便宜 ，小苹果很贵。
This is a short dialogue about a shopping trip. A woman buys many things, including food, drinks, furniture, and pet food, while her boyfriend reminds her not to overspend.
那些桌子、椅子什么的，这个星期都 便宜了 ，都不贵。”
Follow a traveler's unexpected hospital stay in China, where counting days and costs becomes practical learning. Practice numbers, dates, food prices, and simple descriptions of a doctor and room.
看病非常贵，吃饭不 便宜 。
Meet Xiao Shang, who is heading back to Shanghai. She compares two ways to travel and tells us why she prefers the slower one. This story helps you practice comparing transportation in simple Chinese.
坐火车比坐飞机 便宜 得多，去飞机场也要花很多时间，所以，小商觉得坐火车比坐飞机好。
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