Questions tagged [synonyms]
Questions about two or more expressions with a similar meaning.
17
questions
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What's the difference between 星期X and 周X?
When accepting an answer, I noticed that the example used the word 周三 for Wednesday, but in my grammar, the days of the week are 星期一, 星期二, etc...
They seem both correct but, what's the difference? ...
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7
answers
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What is the difference between 餐馆 and 饭店? Is 饭店 used for restaurant or hotel?
饭店 and 餐馆 can both mean restaurant. My Chinese friend here in Dongguan tells me 饭店 is not commonly used to mean hotel. I want to understand in what contexts both of these words are used. 谢谢.
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2
answers
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What's the difference between 扣好安全带 (kòuhǎo ānquándài) and 系好安全带 (jìhǎo ānquándài), which both seem to mean "fasten seatbelt"?
On the plane I see 就座后扣好安全带 (jiù zuòhòu kòuhǎo ānquándài) which is translated to "fasten seatbelt while seated".
On the bus I see 上车请系好安全带 (shàngchē qǐng jìhǎo ānquándài) which I think translates to ...
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21
votes
5
answers
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Confusion about bian 邊 and miàn 面
I'm having a little trouble with learning directions and positions. It seems that most often the word bian is being used to indicate a position: front side 前邊, back side 後邊, etc.
But then I see stuff ...
- 495
16
votes
5
answers
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Difference between 特色, 特點, 特性, 特質, and 特徵
Looking up these five words in dictionaries gives results that are almost identical. In Chinese-English dictionaries, I find explanations identical or very close to:
a characteristic; a ...
- 3,038
15
votes
3
answers
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Do 之 and 的 come from the same word?
In modern Chinese 之 is thought of as the literary genitive particle and 的 as the colloquial. In most reconstructions of Old Chinese 之 looks very similar to the way 的 is pronounced now. For example in ...
- 1,074
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3
answers
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What's the difference between 周 and 星期? [duplicate]
From a dictionary lookup, it seems that both 周 and 星期 can mean "a week"—is there any difference in usage?
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38
votes
9
answers
11k
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What is the difference between 狗 and 犬?
狗 (gǒu) and 犬 (quǎn) both mean "dog" and both seem relatively common, but is there any difference between them? When should I use one and when should I use the other?
- 2,116
22
votes
8
answers
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Difference between 如果 and 要是?
In the Pimsleur Mandarin course it uses 如果 (rúguǒ) to mean 'if', but the dictionary shows 要是 (yàoshì) to have a similar meaning:
如果: if; in case; in the event that
要是: if
Are there any ...
- 3,435
18
votes
8
answers
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Why is 两 used for quantities of two rather than 二?
I understand that 两 is used instead of 二 when dealing with quantities of two. However, my question is - why? What are the historical reasons behind this?
I looked at Wikitionary but it only had ...
- 271
13
votes
4
answers
2k
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Difference between 同一 and 一样
I would like to know when to use 同一 and when to use 一样 when describing items or people as similar? What is the difference in usage between these two phrases?
- 131
11
votes
4
answers
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What's the relationship between 炮 and 砲?
炮 and 砲 both mean "cannon", but it seems the former is much more common, and the latter only really seen in Xiangqi.
Is there a difference in meaning? For example, on wikipedia it is said that 砲 ...
- 8,547
9
votes
7
answers
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How to distinguish between rat and mouse in Chinese?
I know there are two words here: 老鼠 and 鼠. However, the dictionary states that 老鼠 (rat) can also mean mouse; how do you specify rat?
I imagine that 仓鼠 (hamster) and 沙鼠 (gerbil) are often abbreviated ...
- 3,445
6
votes
4
answers
2k
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斯 vs 这 vs 此 for the meaning "this"?
What are the differences between these three, 斯 vs 这 vs 此, and any other characters or words for "this" in Mandarin Chinese?
I'm just a beginner and I've noticed at least these few characters are in ...
- 4,015
5
votes
3
answers
2k
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Is it 說 /说 / shuō or 講 / 讲 / jiǎng for "to speak a language"?
I've realized that I still don't know the way to talk about "speaking a language", for instance the Chinese equivalents to sentences like these:
Do you speak English?
I can speak a little Chinese.
...
- 4,015
3
votes
5
answers
2k
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What does “大概” mean? Are there any words with the same meaning?
I looked up in the dictionary, there are 12 meanings for it!
well
aiblins
anywhere
belike
supposedly
probably
prob.
maybe
mayhap
presumedly
presumably
ordinarily
somewhere
easily
mainly
Just wonder ...
- 517
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1
answer
185
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How to deal with elasticity/flexibility in HSK vocabulary? [closed]
I'll be concise for those knowledgeable, and refer to brief and basic bibliography for those who are not.
The Chinese elasticity/flexibility is a lexical property of Chinese terms, two sides of the ...
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