Questions tagged [word-choice]
Questions about what word fits better in a certain context or situation.
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How do you refer to a non-binary sibling in Mandarin Chinese?
I am a very new Chinese student, and as part of my class we are introducing and listing our family members (mother, father, and older and younger brothers and sisters).
However, one of my older ...
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Adding 你, 你們, 您 after interjections
So I've noticed that for 謝謝 and 歡迎, it is common to put 你 or another 2nd person pronoun afterwards, though it's not required.
謝謝 vs 謝謝妳
歡迎到佛蒙特 vs 歡迎你們到佛蒙特
I'm assuming that because these expressions ...
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Is 貴 (your) a productive morpheme?
Is 貴 a productive morpheme in Mandarin, or is it only used in fixed expressions that one should just learn?
Like, can I say «貴杯» for «your cup», or is that not allowed.
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Hi, could you please help me with the translation of these weapon parts?
Could you please check, if I have translated these sentences in a right way? Thanks a lot! :)
气体调节器 - gas adjuster
瞄准装置 - scope
复进簧 - return spring
活塞簧 - bolt spring
上护盖 - upper cover
活塞 - bolt
机头 - ...
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外卖 - Does this read as ( Take Away ) in regards to a meal?
I am trying to find symbols for a restaurant that does Asian Takeaway food.
I want to know if this is the correct way to write "TAKEAWAY"
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Is 大国工匠 a correct expression to represent the craftsmanship?
The recent news says that a number of highly skilled masters in China were titled 大国工匠.
but in this phrase, it just means a craftsman of a big country, which may imply whoever can be this regardless ...
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Nuance of 知道了 versus 明白了
In the WeTV version of Three Body Problem (ep. 12, minute 12:31) Wang Miao tells detective Shi Qiang not to smoke in front of Wang Miao's daughter. While the detective hates being told not to smoke, ...
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Is there a pattern for 沒 VS 沒有 as negative of 了?
I am already familiar with the use of 沒（有） as the negative of 了 in general. For example such as saying 一些衣服沒有乾 or 我沒有找到, 沒五點 etc. This question is just about why it's one or the other.
I have mostly ...
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Why does 张连跃 (2019) give the example sentence 我推荐你跟本地人一起住，这样可以事半功倍 to discuss problems with misused commonly/uncommonly-used words?
但也有相反的情况，即误用非常用词，当用词是常用词。例如：
（5）我推荐你跟本地人一起住，这样可以事半功倍。（当用“建议”）
张连跃, 英语背景 CSL 学习者特异性混淆词语特征探析, 2019.
The above paper analyzes Chinese words which are problematic for native-English speakers in ...
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How to say "make money"?
I'm trying to say "the Song Dynasty used this invention to make paper money". So far I've got "宋朝用了这个发明做纸钱“。 The "make money" part is messing with me- I know "做钱“ can mean to print counterfeit money, ...
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How do I express ''routine'' in the following cases?
I want to say "workout routine" , "weightlifting routine" , "daily routine" , "study routine".
My dictionary provides a few translations for "routine"....
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How can we construct natural Chinese sentences when their English counterpart contains the verb "attempt"?
In English, we often use the word "attempt". Here's 5 random example sentences (off the top of my head):
I'm attempting to learn Chinese.
I attempted to make a joke, but it didn't go well.
...
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Mandarin translation of "hidden gem"
Is there an equivalent to something being called a "hidden gem" in Mandarin, particularly referring to a travel destination, restaurant or an experience?
For example: "This trail is a ...
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Why was 以及 replaced with 和？
Lately, I handed in a translation saying:
那时， 有人多次无故破坏我的电动轮椅。甚至于打断椅子扶手，打碎后视镜、在椅座上灭烟头，以及小便的程度。
After transmitting it in, I though 以及 would probably be replaced with 並且。But to my great surprise I ...
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Why can't I use "可不可以" to ask whether you can go to the company tomorrow?
An exercise in HelloChinese course asked to translate the following sentence to Mandarin Chinese: "Can you (singular) go to the company tomorrow?".
I answered "你明天可不可以去公司？", which ...
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What are the differences between 效果 and 结果?
效果和结果有什么区别？Can both be used in the same context as synonyms, or are there situations in which one fits better than the other?
谢谢。
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Which of "她睡觉的时候...", "她在睡觉的时候...", "她睡觉时候...", and "她在睡觉时候..." are grammatically correct and do they all have the same meaning?
In class, we learned this sentence:
她睡觉的时候，她的朋友正在上网。
Tā shuìjiào de shíhòu. Tāde péngyǒu zhèngzài shàngwǎng.
My question is about the following three variants. For the first, we add in a 在 (zài)...
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压力高低 vs. 压力大小: Why did a native speaker change 生活的压力很低 to 生活的压力小?
People practice writing Chinese at Reddit's r/WriteStreakCN, with one example here:
只要人们热爱他们的工作，生活的压力很低，可以享受人生。
A user, who I believe is a native-Chinese speaker, changed this to:
只要人们热爱他们的工作，...
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Which tone is it (in pinyin)?
Following on from this question Asking "what's the pinyin/character for X?".
I've had difficulty previously asking native speakers which tone I should use for a particular character if ...
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Why does the choice of 斯人 vs 是人 spark so much argument?
The last two days, major websites and social media in mainland China covered the story that the national People's Education Publishing House has replaced 斯人 with 是人 in the well known sentence ...
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Right demand = 正确的要求 in this situation?
Suppose you and your teammates are negotiating with another company B.
Your teammates think your company needs to offer B $100M and ask B to do X.
But you think your company needs to offer B $100M and ...
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Which makes more sense when calling myself a fool / foolish?
A girl that I like frequently calls me 笨蛋. I want to confess my feelings to her and wasn't sure if saying 我知道我很笨蛋。 or 我知道我是笨蛋。makes more sense gramatically.
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How to say 公德心 in English?
How to say 公德心 in English? I am not looking for explanation. I am looking for translation.
Similar words for 没有公德心 is selfish, thoughtless, disregard, and don't care about other people. But none of ...
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Is it just me, or is 教……学习 in 爸爸正在教他的孩子学习游泳 weird?
This sentence is in a 看图写话 section of a HSK6 textbook (photo):
在游泳馆里，爸爸正在教他的孩子学习游泳。
郑丽杰, 刘悦, 21天政府HSK6级写作, p. 24.
I'm puzzled about how both 教 and 学习 both appear in the same sentence.
sb. 正在教 sb. ...
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What is the difference between 通常，经常，and 常常？
What is the difference between 通常，经常，and 常常？
I hear them a lot in conversational Chinese, but I can't pick out the difference in meaning. The dictionaries I've checked don't seem to agree on their ...
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Whats the difference between 客户反馈 vs 客户评论 vs 用户评论?
Trying to say "customer reviews" in Mandarin but don't know what the correct term is for online course student/user reviews. Please help!
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What's the equivalent of "nice" (said like the Reddit meme) in Chinese?
How do I say "nice" as a response, in a kind of positive, "that's cool" tone, in Chinese? Like how it's said on Reddit (or elsewhere on the internet) as a response to the numbers ...
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When does one use 同埋 and 然後 in Cantonese?
A long time ago, I asked a Hong Kong colleague how to order food by saying "and" or "and then". She taught me the structure is basically something like "我要薯條同埋一個漢堡包." But ...
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Cantonese Question: When does one use 咩 versus 乜野?
I've been listening to some Cantonese audio from Pimsleur and noticed they use a different word for "what" compared to what I learned from CantoneseClass101. In CC101, they used 咩, such as &...
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Difference between 有冇 and 咗 for past tense in Cantonese
I have finished my audio course on Cantonese and was confused about one grammar point. Sometimes people in the conversations, referring to the past tense, would say something like this for "Did ...
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English equivalent for 辛苦了 when the speaker is not the person being helped out
Per the answers to this question, it is clear that you can say 辛苦了 to express gratitude for someone else's help.
But suppose you are working or studying, and somebody else (who is not related to the ...
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What is the difference between 对不起, 请问, 不好意思, and 抱歉 to express "excuse me" or "sorry"?
I always wonder whether there is any difference between these four terms to say "excuse me" or "sorry". The difference between 对不起 and 不好意思 is explained in this question, but I'm not sure about the ...
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How do I translate the Simpson's quote "I know, he's grooming me"?
Marge: Oh Homer, there's a bird on your head.
Homer: I know, he's grooming me.
In this funny quote from The Simpsons (video; episode Bart Gets an Elephant), I'm not quite sure how to translate the ...
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Can I use 是 with adjective (color)?
In my work book I saw the sentence: 现在这个咖啡的颜色好一点，不是很黑
My question is: if 黑 (in 不是很黑) is an adjective, why it is used with 是? should it be 不太黑？
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In my maths textbook, what is 和 doing in the question 两次所得的和相同吗？
This is a photo from my year-7 maths textbook (click to enlarge; alternative version):
两次所得的和相同吗？换几个加数再试一试．
从上述计算中，你能得出什么结论？
I understand what it's saying: calculate 30+(-20) and (-20)+30 and check ...
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Difference between 饭店，饭馆 and 餐馆？
If 饭店 is a more formal restaurant than 饭馆, where would you situate 餐馆? More like an eatery, more low-key than 饭馆 or more formal than 饭店? Are there other differences in meaning between the three words?
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How would one say "uses up time" in chinese? e.g. "Studying uses up time that could be utilised for leisure activities."
Google translate gave me 使用时间, but I've learnt not to take it at its word, more often than not.
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Is there a generic way to say "weekday" without the concept of "work/business/school day"?
The most common translation of weekday is: 工作日
Google Translate suggests 工作日 and 平常日 for weekday.
Is 平常日 commonly used?
How would a native speaker normally say weekday?
Would it be odd for a ...
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What is the difference between 还是 and 还?
What is the difference between 还是 and 还? Is 还 the short of 还是 and, consequently, they are interchangeable in every situation, only in some cases or never?
For reference, I will list the different ...
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When do I use 确定 vs 决定？
The two words mean approximately the same thing but I find that there is a nuance I'm missing in terms of the appropriate context to use one or the other. How should I think about the difference ...
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Honorifics used by students the same age
Can anyone tell me honorifics that would be used by high school aged students who are the same age? More specifically, is there any honorific that would be used by a student being extremely polite to ...
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Which is best to use in 我觉得学汉语不容易，但是我 （会/能/可以）学?
The question I was given is
你觉得学汉语怎么样？
I want to say
I feel that learning Chinese isn't easy, but I can do it.
So far, I've written
我觉得学汉语不容易，但是我 （会/能/可以）学。
but I'm not sure if I should use “可以”，...
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Difference between 与，和 and 跟?
Do the following three sentences mean the same thing, that is, can they be used interchangeably?
她的父母就来我们家与我的家人见面了。
她的父母就来我们家和我的家人见面了。
她的父母就来我们家跟我的家人见面了。
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What is the difference between 顾客 and 客户？
This is a relatively simple question， but until now I have not consistently heard or seen a dominant choice. Is there a difference? And if so what is the difference.
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Why is 有 used in 我最喜欢的科目有艺术，中文和化学?
I was studing how to say school subjects in mandarin and I saw this sentence:
我最喜欢的科目有艺术，中文和化学
(My favorite school subjects are art, chinese and chemistry)
Why the use of 有 in this sentecence?
Could I ...
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What is a word for a person who pretends to work but is really just waiting for others to give them their share when the work is done?
Similar to moocher and shirker in english, but with their meanings combined and with an element of trying to be sly. Looking for something that would work in a basic sentence, to identify/label a ...
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Why is it 放学 and 下班, instead of 放班 or 下学?
I know that there is also the variant 放工 but I don't think this is typical usage.
The use of 下 is so common, but yet in the instance of a school we use 放 instead.
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What is the difference between 人 and 员?
Part of the news item provided by Xinhua News Agency on May 24, 2022 says:
...全面记述以邓小平同志为主要代表的中国共产党人、以江泽民同志为主要代表的中国共产党人、以胡锦涛同志为主要代表的中国共产党人，从新的实践和时代特征出发坚持和发展马克思主义，...
But what we often see is 共产党员. So ...
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What does 兮兮 mean?
According to the dictionary, 兮兮 means:
词的后缀。用在某些词后，表示一种情态。
脏兮兮 | 可怜兮兮 | 神经兮兮
I'm not sure what this has over just using the word (how can 情态 express adjectives to express a state, not people?). Does ...
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What is the appropriate translation for "stick" (one that falls off a tree)?
Usually when you look up the word "stick", you get something like
CC-CEDICT 棍棒 (gùnbàng) club / staff / stick
Google Image Search indicates a 棍棒 looks like this:
and not like this:
In ...
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