特别
especially; particularly; special
HSK level
- Pinyin
- tèbié
- Part of speech
- adverb
- Level
- HSK 3
- Strokes
- 17
- Register
- neutral
- In episodes
- 4
Stroke order for 特别
特别 is written with 17 strokes (特: 10, 别: 7). The animation replays automatically.
What does 特别 mean?
特别 (tèbié) plays two main roles.
As an adverb (the most common HSK 3 use), it intensifies whatever follows — 'especially / particularly / really.' 特别好 means 'particularly good,' 特别冷 means 'really cold.' It's stronger than 很 (hěn, 'very') and slightly more emphatic than 非常 (fēicháng). As an adjective, it means 'special / unusual' — 一个特别的礼物 ('a special gift'), 他很特别 ('he's unique / unusual').
A common pattern is 特别是 (tèbié shì, 'especially / above all'): 我喜欢水果，特别是苹果 ('I like fruit, especially apples'). Native speakers use 特别 constantly in spoken Chinese — it's warmer and more conversational than the more formal 尤其 (yóuqí). Don't confuse with 别 alone, which means 'don't.'
Character by character
Memory hook: 特 'special' + 别 'other / set apart' = set apart as special — particularly, especially.
Hear 特别 in real episodes
特别 appears in 4 Fluentide podcast episodes at natural native speed. Each sentence plays at the easiest difficulty it exists in — switch it to hear the same moment at your level, with full pinyin and English throughout.
万圣节，是一个人们穿特别衣服的节日，袋子也有特别的样子。
Halloween is a holiday when people wear special clothes, and the bags also have a special look.
Coffee Shops Turn Tote Bags Into Branding
它最后是从一种很特别的钟来的，这种钟叫原子钟。
Ultimately, it comes from a very special kind of clock, called an atomic clock.
Jun Ye's Atomic Clock Won't Lose a Second in 15 Billion Years. Now He Has Won the Wolf Prize, Often a Step Before the Nobel.
今天，我们说一个很特别的监狱。
Today we're talking about a very unusual prison.
Luxury Apartments Inside an Indonesian Prison: Big TVs, Fancy Cars and a Golf SimulatorElementary
这架飞机很特别，飞机上画着一只正在吃竹子的大熊猫。
The plane was special: it had a giant panda eating bamboo painted on it.
Giant Pandas Ping Ping and Fu Shuang Land in Atlanta as Panda Diplomacy Returns
Example sentences
今天天气特别好。
Jīntiān tiānqì tèbié hǎo.
The weather is especially nice today.
spoken
我特别喜欢吃中国菜。
Wǒ tèbié xǐhuan chī Zhōngguó cài.
I particularly love Chinese food.
spoken
他送了我一个特别的礼物。
Tā sòng le wǒ yí ge tèbié de lǐwù.
He gave me a special gift.
neutral
我喜欢水果，特别是苹果。
Wǒ xǐhuan shuǐguǒ, tèbié shì píngguǒ.
I like fruit, especially apples.
neutral
这个地方没什么特别的。
Zhège dìfang méi shénme tèbié de.
There's nothing special about this place.
spoken
Common phrases with 特别
Synonyms
非常 means 'extremely / very' and works in any context, slightly more formal. 特别 has the extra meaning of 'specifically / set apart,' and it can also be an adjective ('special'). 非常 can only be an adverb.
尤其 means 'especially / above all,' more formal and often used in writing. 特别 covers the same meaning but is the everyday spoken choice.
格外 also means 'particularly / exceptionally,' but it's literary and emphasizes 'beyond the normal range.' 特别 is the everyday word.
Don't confuse 特别 with
别 alone means 'don't' (别去 = 'don't go') or 'other.' 特别 is 'especially / special.' Beginners sometimes drop the 特 by mistake and reverse the meaning.
特 by itself appears mainly in compounds (特点 'characteristic,' 特色 'distinctive feature'). As a freestanding adverb meaning 'especially,' you must say 特别, not just 特, in standard Mandarin.
Frequently asked questions
Related words from the same episodes
Acquire it by listening
Meet 特别 again — in real Chinese, at your level.
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