Comparing "bian" and "bianhua"

变 (biàn) and 变化 (biànhuà) both are verbs that mean "to change," and can sometimes be used interchangeably. 变 is used in informal situations, whereas 变化 is used in both informal and formal situations. A key difference between these two words is that 变 can be followed by objects or other words, whereas 变化 as a verb cannot. 变化 can also be a noun.

	变 (biàn)	变化 (biànhuà)
Meaning	to change	to change; a change
Part of Speech	verb	verb, noun
Formality	informal	flexible

变 is a verb

几年不见，你变了。 Jǐ nián bù jiàn, nǐ biàn le.I haven't seen you for a few years. You've changed.
我觉得她一点没有变。 Wǒ juéde tā yīdiǎn méiyǒu biàn.I don't think she has changed at all.
时代变了。 Shídài biàn le.Times have changed.

变化 is often a noun

In English we often say something "has changed a lot." In Chinese, the normal way to express that idea is that (literally) "change has been big." To preserve this flavor, we've purposely used translations below where "change" in Engish is also a noun.

十年没见他，他的变化很大。 Shí nián méi jiàn tā, tā de biànhuà hěn dà.I haven't seen him for ten years and the changes are major.
最近的天气没有变化，还是很冷。 Zuìjìn de tiānqì méiyǒu biànhuà , háishì hěn lěng.There haven't been changes in the weather recently. It's still cold.
和十年前比，人们的观念变化很大。 Hé shí niánqián bǐ, rénmen de guānniàn biànhuà hěn dà.Compared to ten years ago, changes in people's perceptions have been significant.
现在的政策不确定，每天都有新变化。 Xiànzài de zhèngcè bù quèdìng, měi tiān dōu yǒu xīn biànhuà .The policy is uncertain now, and there are new changes every day.
因为气候变化，伦敦在圣诞节的时候也很久没下雪了。 Yīnwèi qìhòu biànhuà , Lúndūn zài Shèngdànjié de shíhou yě hěn jiǔ méi xià xuě le.Because of climate change, it hasn't snowed at Christmas time in London for a long time.
改革开放以来，中国社会发生了深刻的变化。 Gǎigé kāifàng yǐlái, Zhōngguó shèhuì fāshēng le shēnkè de biànhuà .Since the reform and opening up, Chinese society has experienced profound change.

变 can be followed by complements

变 + Adjective

Adjectives can come after 变 to form a result complement.

秋天来了，树叶变黄了。 Qiūtiān lái le, shùyè biàn huáng le.Autumn has come and the leaves have turned yellow.
这两年，我觉得我的妈妈变老了。 Zhè liǎng nián, wǒ juéde wǒ de māma biàn lǎo le.In the past few years, I feel my mother has gotten older.
我最近吃得很多，我感觉我变胖了，衣服变小了。 Wǒ zuìjìn chī de hěn duō, wǒ gǎnjué wǒ biàn pàng le, yīfu biàn xiǎo le.I've been eating a lot lately and I feel like I've gotten fatter and my clothes have gotten smaller.

变得 + ....

Use 变得 for all kinds of descriptive complements.

我的女儿长大了，头发也变得很长。 Wǒ de nǚ’ér zhǎngdà le, tóufa yě biàn de hěn cháng.My daughter has grown up and her hair has gotten very long.
自从买了洗碗机，洗碗变得很轻松。 Zìcóng mǎi le xǐ wǎn Jī, xǐ wǎn biàn de hěn qīngsōng.Since I bought a dishwasher, washing dishes has become a breeze.
我很反对这样的做法，会让事情变得更严重。 Wǒ hěn fǎnduì zhèyàng de zuòfǎ, huì ràng shìqing biàn de gèng yánzhòng.I'm against this. It makes the situation more serious.
她现在变得越来越漂亮了。 Tā xiànzài biàn de yuèláiyuè piàoliang le.These days she's getting prettier and prettier.

变成 + noun

变成 is like "to turn into," and it can be followed by the noun that someone or something has turned into.

他最近变成单身了。 Tā zuìjìn biànchéng dānshēn le.He has recently become single.
我的猫和我朋友的小狗现在变成了 好朋友 。 Wǒ de māo hé wǒ péngyou de xiǎogǒu xiànzài biànchéng le hǎo péngyou.My cat and my friend's puppy have become good friends.
他们会把牛奶的颜色变成蓝色，就像星球大战一样！Tāmen huì bǎ niúnǎi de yánsè biànchéng lánsè, jiù xiàng Xīngqiú Dàzhàn yīyàng!They'll turn the color of the milk blue, just like in Star Wars!
很多绿色的地方未来几十年会变成沙漠。 Hěn duō lǜsè de dìfang wèilái jǐshí nián huì biànchéng shāmò .A lot of green places will turn into deserts in the next few decades.

变 + noun

Some limited nouns can directly follow 变.

你变了样子。 Nǐ biàn le yàngzi.You've changed your appearance.
把这件衣服放在太阳下面，就会变颜色。 Bǎ zhè jiàn yīfu fàng zài tàiyáng xiàmiàn, jiù huì biàn yánsè.Put this clothing in the sun and it will change color.
听到这个消息，他变了脸，看起来很生气。 Tīngdào zhège xiāoxi, tā biàn le liǎn, kànqǐlái hěn shēngqì. When he heard the news, his face changed and looked angry.
地铁里人很多，我的面包放在包里面，被挤得变了形状。 Dìtiě lǐ rén hěn duō, wǒ de miànbāo fàng zài bāo lǐmiàn, bèi jǐ de biàn le xíngzhuàng.The subway was so crowded that my bread, which was inside my bag, was squooshed and changed its shape.

变 and 变化 can sometimes be used interchangeably to mean "to change"

These contexts are limited, and usually occur in phrases where "changing" is expressed using 在.

社会在变化，人们的观念也在变化。 Shèhuì zài biànhuà , rénmen de guānniàn yě zài biànhuà .Society is changing, and so are people's perceptions.
社会在变，人们的观念也在变。 Shèhuì zài biàn , rénmen de guānniàn yě zài biàn .Society is changing, and so are people's perceptions.

情况不断在变化。 Qíngkuàng bùduàn zài biànhuà .The situation is constantly changing.
情况不断在变。 Qíngkuàng bùduàn zài biàn .The situation is constantly changing.

我一直在变，你也一直在变化。 Wǒ yīzhí zài biàn , nǐ yě yīzhí zài biànhuà .I keep changing and you keep changing.

Comparing "bian" and "bianhua"

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