不便 búbiàn inconvenient
inconvenient; inappropriate; unsuitable; short of cash
How to remember 不便: 不 not + 便 convenient = inconvenient.
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How it is used
- 不便 (búbiàn) is a formal, slightly euphemistic way to say something is inconvenient or inappropriate, often softening a refusal: 现在不便说 (xiànzài búbiàn shuō) - it's not convenient to say right now.
- It differs from the everyday 不方便 (bù fāngbiàn) - same meaning but far more common in speech; 不便 sounds more polite and literary, typical of announcements or formal apologies.
- A special fixed sense is 手头不便 (shǒutóu búbiàn) or 经济不便, meaning short of cash.
- Also appears in the set phrase 诸多不便 (zhūduō búbiàn) - considerable inconvenience - in written complaints or notices.