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How would one ask "What personality traits do you like?" in Mandarin? I've seen it translated as:

你喜欢什么个性特征 but isn't 性特征 sexual characteristics?

So I wasn't sure if it would be better to use 人格特质 in place of 性特征?

Thanks

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  • 1
    isn't 性特征 sexual characteristics, no, the 个 goes together with 性. 个性 = personality
    – blackgreen
    Jul 2, 2020 at 20:20
  • 1
    Your accepted answer has some issues in it. I have pointed out in my comment below.
    – dan
    Jul 3, 2020 at 13:57

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I've seen it translated as: 你喜欢什么个性特征 but isn't 性特征 sexual characteristics?

Here 个性 as personality, 特征 as traits

There is actually a difference

  1. 你喜欢什么东西? - Which thing do you like.
  2. 你喜欢什么个东西? - Why do you like it.
  3. 你喜欢个什么东西? - Same as 1.

In 0, you don't know what they like and you want to know.

However, in 1. or 2. you know what they like but don't understand why, and likely because you don't like it. But sometime 1,2 means the same as 0, it still depends on the context.

So I wasn't sure if it would be better to use 人格特质 in place of 性特征?

It really read as 什么(个性)(特征), not 什么个(性特征), so we can change 个性特征 to 人格特质 or just 个性 in short to avoid the confusion.

How to ask what personality traits do you like in Mandarin

你喜欢什么性格

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  • "1. 你喜欢什么个东西? - Why do you like it. 2. 你喜欢个什么东西?" Sentence 1 is plain wrong. Sentence 2 is a bit off and means completely different thing.
    – dan
    Jul 3, 2020 at 13:53
  • @dan I agree grammatically it might doesn't make much sense, however, some people are talking like that in daily life, and I think there should be a better translation than just say "Why do you like it."
    – Manx
    Jul 3, 2020 at 14:24
  • I didn't hear anyone say 你喜欢什么个东西. Maybe, it's a dialect? I usually hear 你喜欢什么东西， which means "what do you like". Well, 你喜欢个什么东西 might be possible to hear, which can mean "what a bad person you like!".
    – dan
    Jul 3, 2020 at 15:20
  • @dan That's true, normally people don't say 你喜欢什么个东西, but if someone says this, i guess they should means something similar to 你喜欢个什么东西, or maybe at least not completely meaningless.
    – Manx
    Jul 3, 2020 at 15:33
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你喜欢怎样的性格？

We do not say 你喜欢怎样的性格特征？ Sounds awkward.

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  • Yes, Or "你喜欢什么样的性格". Not sure where the down vote came from, but +1
    – dan
    Jul 3, 2020 at 13:55

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