How to Write 俾 (bǐ) — Meaning “so that or in order to”

Imagine a person (亻) who is low (卑) lifting something up so that others can reach it. The idea of enabling or making something possible helps connect the visual of "person + low" to the meaning "so that."

Write the left radical 亻 narrow and tall, then carefully draw the right side 卑. The right side has a top part like 白 (but with a left-down stroke first) and a bottom 十; make sure the horizontal strokes are evenly spaced. A common mistake is confusing the right side with 早, but note 卑 has no extra horizontal stroke above the bottom cross.

佩 (pèi) means "to wear" or "admire" and contains a different right component (几+巾), while 佬 (lǎo) means "man" or "guy" and uses 老 on the right. Visually, 俾 has the 卑 component, 佩 has a more complex right side, and 佬 has an obvious 老. In usage, 俾 is formal and literary, while 佩 and 佬 are common in everyday Chinese.

俾 is rarely used in spoken Chinese and appears mainly in formal writing, such as legal documents, official announcements, or literary texts. It often appears in phrases like 俾使 (bǐ shǐ) and 俾便 (bǐ biàn), meaning "so as to enable" or "so as to make it easier." Its classical tone gives a sense of formality and precision.

Common words containing 俾 include: 俾使 (bǐ shǐ) — so as to or in order to enable; 俾便 (bǐ biàn) — so as to make it easier for; 俾利 (bǐ lì) — So as to facilitate; to benefit..