Example sentences
bié别shuō说huà话！
Don't talk!
nǐ你bié别qù去。
Don't go.
The story behind the character
别
The traditional 別 pairs 刀, a knife, with 冎, a bare bone. Xu Shen wrote 别, 分解也: to split apart. A knife separating flesh from bone is the original picture. The 别 in 别走, do not go, comes from the same place, since parting is a kind of cutting off. 分别 and 告别 both branch from that knife.