Questions tagged [word-choice]
Questions about what word fits better in a certain context or situation.
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What's the difference between 学 and 学习?
I know both mean "to study" and I also know that while 学 (xué) is transitive, 学习 (xué xí) can be both intransitive and transitive, for example:
我学中文。 (I study «what?» Chinese) = transitive;
我在大学学习。 (...
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What is the nuance of 很好?
Beginning textbooks say 很好 means "very good," but soon add that 很 is usually just there to balance the phrase and does not really mean "very" in this context. S.Rhee's comment cites a much fuller ...
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Difference between 想 and 要?
I know both of them mean "want to" but have usage in different contexts. When should I use each one?
For example:
我要去上海市 and 我想去上海市
What's the difference in the meaning between them?
Also, I've ...
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What is the difference between 必须, 得, 必需, and 需要?
I know that all of them mean "to have to" in some form or another, but are they interchangeable?
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Differences: 干，办，做，搞，弄
What's the difference between all these five words? They mean all "to do", they're driving me crazy!
I write some example sentences with some of them (hoping that's the right one), just to understand ...
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的确, 确实, 实在, and 真正: what's the difference?
(Related a bit to Difference between 实际, 现实, 确实, and 实在 I guess. Good to link to it for posterity.)
的确, 确实, 实在, 真正
My dictionaries all say that all four can be adverbs with a meaning of "really." ...
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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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How widespread is the use of 妳?
When addressing a female, do I have to use 妳 instead of 你?
How common is the usage of 妳?
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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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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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What is the difference in use between 以及, 和 and 与?
I have a book with the following lesson titles:
中文以及中国
聚会和饮食
交通与环境
Why are these terms connected with 以及 / 和 / 与, why not always use 和 for example?
Are there any rules for proper use of these ...
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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 ...
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Difference between 许多 and 很多
What's the difference between 许多 and 很多?
For example, in this sentence I found on Jukuu both terms are used:
After years of teaching, I have many memories to dwell on in idle moments.
过了许多年的教学生涯，...
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Does Chinese have a phrase equivalent to "For all I know"?
There is an expression in English:
"For all I know, ...."
The following clause often has a modal expressing uncertainty or the hypothetical nature of the assertion, like "might", ...
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What is the difference between 阅读, 读, and 看?
What is the difference between the three read verbs, 阅读，读，and 看? A casual googling gets you some explanations but as I still can't get it correctly and it has not been posted here, I wish someone ...
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When is it appropriate to use 亲爱的?
In English it perfectly fine in a business context and for someone you have never met before to use Dear XXXX at the beginning of a letter or email.
This causes some difficulty when moving to another ...
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In what instances can use you use 干嘛 over 干吗 (and vice versa)?
I noticed that 干嘛 appears used in various forms of media, such as newspapers, magazines, and movie subtitles.
From a pronunciation standpoint, 嘛 and 吗 are different (neutral tone vs. second tone, ...
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Adverbs that don't use 地
So I know that to make an adverb, you use 'de/di' and put it before the verb like:
我兴奋地打开了我的礼物
But in my studies this week I saw this:
...病症的人逐年增加
and
逐渐成长为独立
Am I right in thinking that ...
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Why Chinese use too many 错别字?
What do you do when your Chinese friend say something that you don't know? You will ignore whatever that is, pretending you got it and move on. Most of the time, it's not even your fault that you can'...
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Why does this phrase use 似的 instead of 似地？
在他脑海中幻灯似的循环浮现
I think that 循环浮现 is a verb-phrase, right?
In which case I would expect to see 似地 instead of 似的.
Can someone explain this and provide a sample translation for the example sentence? ...
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"Learn" vs. "Study"
I've read the thread on 學 vs. 學習， and I have a slightly related question. In English, the words "learn" and "study" are somewhat interchangeable, but also fairly distinct, in that there is a ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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What does "老" in "老虎" and "老鼠" mean
As I remember, 虎 and 鼠 are standalone nouns, meaning tiger and mouse, respectively. However, it seems that 老虎 and 老鼠 are more commonly used.
Why is 老 used as a prefix for 虎 and 鼠? Why do we use 獅子 ...
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What is the difference between yǐqián (以前) and zhīqián (之前)?
I'd like to have some way to differentiate between yǐqián (以前) and zhīqián (之前), in order to help with memorising them both. Referring to Modern Mandarin Grammar (Claudia Ross, Routledge 2006), it ...
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What is the formal/polite way to begin and end an email in Chinese?
In English, formal emails, e.g. emails to a professor, often start with "Hi", "Hello", "Dear" followed by the receiver's name (and title, if applicable). The ending is ...
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What is the difference between using 光 vs using 只?
What is the gramatical difference between 光 and 只?
光剩下2毛钱 does not have the same meaning/context as 只剩下2毛钱
It seems there is more emphasis to the part that comes after 光. When is the right time to ...
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What is the difference between 整个 and 全?
The dictionary definitions for 整个 and 全 both use "whole" and "entire". However, 全 additionally has definitions of "all" and "complete".
I have a homework assignment that asks me to distinguish their ...
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Two-character homonyms with same meaning
This is question about synonymous homonyms in Chinese, in particular, two-character words with same sound, tone. Edit: to keep the question simple and broad, I am using the word "homonym" in a non-...
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Using 老头 / 老头子 when speaking to others
I'm trying to get some clarification on whether or not it is impolite to use 老头 / 老头子 when speaking outside a group of friends when referring to a third party.
From my understanding 老头 is quite ...
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What's the difference between 舅舅 and 叔叔?
My favorite short story in modern Mandarin, 2015 by 王小波, is basically a long, humorous digression about the author's 舅舅:
我舅舅是个无照画家，和别人不同的是，他总在忙些正事。有时他在作画；有时他卖画，并且因此蹲在派出所里。他作画时把房门锁上，再戴上个防震耳罩，...
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Difference between 合适 and 适合
Both 合适 and 适合 mean to fit/to suit.
I know the grammatical form needed for each one is different:
在这个情况下，你在穿的衣服就不合适。
我在找一个适合我的女孩子。
Aside of that, I have been told they cannot be used ...
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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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Difference between 曾经 and 已经
In this question I was asking about 曾经 and one answer says it means 'already'.
What's the difference between 曾经 and 已经?
Do the two sentences below have the same meaning?
他曾经在北京学过两年汉语。
他已经在北京学过两年汉语。
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How formal is 如何 in the context of 最近如何?
I was told by friend who is a native mainland speaker that "最近如何", or anything using "如何" to inquire about the state of a person, is a very ancient/formal way of speaking. This was quite a shock to me&...
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What distinguishes 各位 (gèwèi) from 大家 (dàjiā)?
From dict.cn:
各位 (gèwèi) = everybody
大家 (dàjiā) = everyone
So they seem closely related, but I don't think they're identical. Today is Teacher's Day and messages like "祝各位老师节日快乐" are popping up in ...
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Is 其他人 any different from 别的人?
I guess the question could also be, is 其他 any different from 别的?
Is one any more formal, any more slang, any more rude, anything of the sort, than the other?
Or are they essentially the same?
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"If you say so": Dismissive agreement
I would like to know some ways to agree in a non-committal or dismissive way. For instance, in English, we have:
If you say so.
Is that so? (with a flat intonation)
Really? (flat intonation)
Whatever ...
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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 ...
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Why can't 了 be used to complement 到?
I have been taught that the sentence 我刚到了 (wǒ gāng dào le) is not correct because 了 cannot be used as a complement of 到. Is this right? If so, why?
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Is there a difference between 担心 (dānxīn) and 着急 (zháojí)?
They're both verbs, they both have meanings "to worry, to be anxious", they both seem to be able to be used as adjectives also.
I just want to know if there's any difference: is one used more in ...
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What is the polite/proper way to address elderly whom I am not familiar with?
I was wondering what is the polite way to address elderlies I do not know. Take the following context for example. Perhaps I visit a store and there is an elderly woman running the register and I ...
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When do I have to use 做/当 instead of 是?
I know 做/当 in some contexts may mean "to be", as in:
他现在做老师了。 He is a teacher now.
她愿意做我女朋友。 She accepted to be my girlfriend.
我毕业后想做经理。 After I graduate I want to be a manager.
I ...
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Translating the two meanings of 好自为之
My dictionary gives the meaning of 好自为之 as "look out for yourself". This is a positive thing you might say out of genuine concern for another person, and I think this was also the case with the ...
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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.
...
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What's the difference between 停车 (tíngchē) and 泊车 (bóchē), which both seem to mean "park car"?
I see these two road signs at Nankai University (Jinnan campus), Tianjin:
请勿泊车 = qǐng wù bóchē
禁止停车 = jìnzhǐ tíngchē
Both seem to mean "no parking" with:
请勿 meaning "please no ..." and 禁止 ...
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Difference between 而, 但 and 和
和 means 'and', and so does 而. What is the difference between the two. I also know that 而 means 'but', and the second question is what is the difference between 而 and 但. Give me an example sentence, ...
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Tonal difference between 浪费 and 糟蹋
Both 浪费 and 糟蹋 mean "to waste." (I'm not really concerned with the other uses of 糟蹋 right now.)
I've seen the collocations 糟蹋粮食 and 糟蹋人才, and 浪费 is very common in phrases like 浪费时间 and 浪费水.
Are ...
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都 vs 也 in "连。。。都／也" structure
I would like to learn when to use 都 and when to use 也 in the 连。。。都／也 structure.
My current understanding is that 都 is often used for positive sentences whereas 也 is generally used for negative ...
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