顺便: while at it, in passing

【高26】方式副词 / adverbs

Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral

S + (做 A 时) 顺便 + V2

顺便 + verb marks a second, minor action done without extra effort while carrying out a main action or journey: "while I'm at it", "on the way", "in passing". The main action is stated before or goes without saying: 他去老师办公室的时候，顺便把我的作业也交了 (he was going to the teacher's office and handed in my homework too).

顺便 stands before the secondary verb, after the subject (我顺便去看望了小学老师) or at the head of the clause (顺便问一下: "by the way, a quick question"). The register is neutral, common in speech and in writing. It also softens a request: 你出门的时候，能不能顺便把垃圾带下去?

Don't confuse it with 专门 / 特地 ("specially, on purpose"), which say the action is the very purpose of the trip, the opposite; 顺着 ("along"), a direction and not an occasion; or 顺路, which speaks of the route ("on the way, passing by"), whereas 顺便 is about the secondary action itself.

Examples

我去超市买菜，顺便给你买了一瓶牛奶。
Wǒ qù chāoshì mǎi cài, shùnbiàn gěi nǐ mǎi le yì píng niúnǎi.
I'm going to the supermarket for groceries, and I'll get you a bottle of milk while I'm at it.
到了上海，我顺便去看望了小学老师。
Dào le Shànghǎi, wǒ shùnbiàn qù kànwàng le xiǎoxué lǎoshī.
Having arrived in Shanghai, I took the chance to visit my primary-school teacher.
他去老师办公室的时候，顺便把我的作业也交了。
Tā qù lǎoshī bàngōngshì de shíhou, shùnbiàn bǎ wǒ de zuòyè yě jiāo le.
When he went to the teacher's office, he handed in my homework too while he was there.
你出门的时候，能不能顺便把垃圾带下去？
Nǐ chūmén de shíhou, néng bu néng shùnbiàn bǎ lājī dài xiàqù?
When you go out, could you take the rubbish down on your way?
接孩子放学的路上，我顺便取了个快递。
Jiē háizi fàngxué de lùshang, wǒ shùnbiàn qǔ le ge kuàidì.
On the way to pick up the kids from school, I collected a parcel too.
顺便问一下，去火车站怎么走？
Shùnbiàn wèn yíxià, qù huǒchēzhàn zěnme zǒu?
By the way, a quick question: how do I get to the railway station?

Common mistakes

✗ 我顺便来看你。 → ✓ 我专门来看你。 (if seeing you is the whole point of the trip, 顺便 would make you an afterthought: say 专门 or 特地).

✗ 我顺着给你带了一份。 → ✓ 我顺便给你带了一份。 (顺着 means "along", not "in passing").

✗ 我顺便去商店。 → 顺便 needs a main action that is stated or obvious (✓ 我下班回家，顺便去了商店).