Chinese word

告别

Pronunciation

Pinyingào bié

Meaning

  • verbsay goodbye

Example

我们在车站告别了。wǒ men zài chē zhàn gào bié le

We said goodbye at the station.

Illustration for 告别 (say goodbye)

More examples

他在毕业典礼上向老师告别。tā zài bì yè dián lǐ shàng xiàng lǎo shī gào bié

He said goodbye to his teacher at the graduation ceremony.

Core concept

A final signal that turns a shared moment into separate paths.

Common phrases

  • 与朋友告别yǔ péng yǒu gào bié

    say goodbye to friends

  • 在机场告别zài jī chǎng gào bié

    say goodbye at the airport

  • 向老师告别xiàng lǎo shī gào bié

    say goodbye to a teacher

Similar words

道别dào bié: Saying goodbye with spoken parting words.
离开lí kāi: Leaving a person or place and going away from it.
送别sòng bié: Seeing someone off as they leave and parting with them.
分手fēn shǒu: Ending a romantic relationship and going separate ways.

Definition in Chinese

向别人表示将要分别的言语或动作，表示离开或结束相聚。xiàng bié rén biǎo shì jiāng yào fēn bié de yán yǔ huò dòng zuò biǎo shì lí kāi huò jié shù xiāng jù

Word origin

告 (gào, "announce") + 别 (bié, "separate") presents separation as something made known to the other person.

Usage tips

  • The person being left commonly follows 跟 (gēn, "with"), 与 (yǔ, "with"), or 向 (xiàng, "toward"), a pattern that helps distinguish saying goodbye to someone from simply leaving.

Other meanings

  • partverb
  • farewellnoun

Opposites

Related words

  • 告别会gào bié huìfarewell partynoun
  • 告别信gào bié xìnfarewell letternoun

Word lists with this word