I know that I should add rén (人) after a country. I found these two in the dictionary:
- 俄罗斯
- 俄国
Which one should I use? What would be the difference between them?
Thanks
1
3
The official Chinese translation for "Россия" (Russia) is 俄罗斯.
The full name of Russia is "Российская Федерация" (Russian Federation), and the official Chinese translation is 俄罗斯联邦.
From the year 1721 to 1917, the dynasty of Russia was called "Российская империя" (Russian Empire), and the official Chinese translation for that dynasty is 俄罗斯帝国, or 俄国 for short.
As a result, don't use 俄国 unless you really mean the Russian Empire from the year 1721 to 1917.
Russian = the person of Russia = 俄罗斯人
Therefore, "I am Russian" should be "我是俄罗斯人".
2
我是俄罗斯人。
俄罗斯 is more often used to modern Russia, while 俄国 is commonly used to refer to the old imperial or tsarist Russia.
Check e.g.: http://baike.baidu.com/view/26403.htm
answered Nov 22 '14 at 20:33
-
1Thanks man. And thanks for the link, although my Chinese is not at this level yet. I've been using this resource for translation and stroke writing yellowbridge.com – UVV Nov 22 '14 at 20:37
-
1
-
That's interesting, my Chinese teacher told me yesterday that I should use 俄国人 and Russia is translated as 俄国 in my textbook. She left Chine ~20 years ago though. – UVV Nov 27 '14 at 11:34
-
@Actually, my Chinese teacher had the same idea. We used a textbook published in the early 90's. – Drunken Master Nov 27 '14 at 11:36
