Questions tagged [word-choice]
Questions about what word fits better in a certain context or situation.
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Is this sentence correct 很多人需开始工作得帮家
I'm making a text for a test and I ended up with this sentence 很多人需开始工作得帮家. What I'm Trying to say is:
Many people need to start working to help their families
It's a complex phrase for my level and I'...
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Difference between: 有多少个 and 有几个
I would like to double check chat gpt`s answer with something more accurate:
My question below:
一年有多少个星期
and
一年有几个星期?
are different phrases but they mean the same, correct?
Is there any grammar and ...
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Isn't it contradictory to say 违反本法规定，构成犯罪的，依法追究刑事责任?
违反本法规定，构成犯罪的，依法追究刑事责任is a sentence I read in a law stipulation. My paraphrasing is like that: if this is something against the criminal law, it shall be placed under the criminal investigation.
But ...
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What is the difference between 书面演讲 and 带稿发言?
Mainstream media report:当地时间11月16日上午，国家主席习近平向在旧金山举行的亚太经合组织工商领导人峰会发表题为《同心协力 共迎挑战 谱写亚太合作新篇章》的书面演讲。
As far as I know, almost all Chinese leaders are reading from a prepared script except the earlier ...
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Is it okay to fill in the blanks of 那种汽车 ____ 价钱很贵， ____ 的确质量很好 with 虽然……但是 despite the 的确?
This is a fill-in-the-blanks exercise on page 56 of 新实用汉语课本5 (photo):
那种汽车 ____ 价钱很贵， ____ 的确质量很好。
We're asked to fill in the blanks with 关联词语. What's tripping me up here: if the 的确 weren't there, ...
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Should the blank in 他毕业以后很快 _____ 找到了一个理想的工作 be filled with 才, 可, or 便?
This is on page 11 of the textbook New Practical Chinese Reader Textbook 5 (photo of original, p.11, #8):
他毕业以后很快 _____ 找到了一个理想的工作。
And the given options for the blank are 才, 可, or 便. Now I think ...
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How can I express "to check in" at an airport?
Last time I went through an airport, I got asked questions I hadn't prepared for. So I'm going through airport vocabulary, sentences, questions, etc. with ChatGPT. ChatGPT gives me
CC-CEDICT: 值机 (...
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How to Format Chinese Address? [closed]
I have something to return on Aliexpress and the seller provided this address:
"Liu Kai
China Guangdong Province Dongguan Shatian Town san sheng cun yan he lu 50 hao er lou
CN 523000 Dongguan ...
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As an antonym of 前景 ("foreground"), is it better to use 后景 or 背景?
I'm reviewing vocabulary, and reached 前景, and one of its meanings is the foreground (of, say, a movie set or a photograph). ChatGPT uses 背景 as its antonym, but I'm wondering if 后景 is usable, since ...
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Difference between 地 and 得 in 他很難過[得/地]哭起來了
他很難過得哭起來了
他很難過地哭起來了
Which one is correct? 1 makes sense because 得 is describing the extent of how 難過 he is, but 2 also seems to make sense because 地 is just before the verb 哭. So I'm really confused ...
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How to translate "population" into Chinese?
Several dictionary says population means "人口".
However, I learnt that 人口 exclusively means the population of human.
In research, we often use population of rabbit or similar things. Can I ...
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Would you recommend an alternative for 文档 as a file-extension?
Suppose that someone was creating a file browser application intended for people in China.
This particular file-browser is designed to translate English abbreviations into 现代标准汉语.
Example
INPUT
...
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check that each file in this folder is the latest version
In my learning of Chinese, I am exploring two related sentences:
the first is the simple statement
Each file in this folder is the latest version
里 这个 文件夹 的 文件部 最新的版本
Or perhaps, one should or ...
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Is there something missing
It may take some trouble to make my point clear, but I would like to have a try.
The following is two sentences in the speeches of Mr. Xi Jinping delivered on two different occassions.
今年是我提出“一带一路”...
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Is this word 加速度 used ungrammatically?
临汾市乡宁县发展特色产业 跑出乡村振兴加速度 is the title of a news item of Xinhua News Agency on Aug 16, 2023.
As we know, 加速度 is acceleration or accelerated velocity.
Definition of acceleration found online:
A physical ...
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Is the tone wrongly used in 违章与事故同在?
I heard this on the bus in a Chinese city, the full being "违章与事故同在，守纪与安全永存".
The couplet seems to follow the pattern of 落霞与孤鹜齐飞,秋水共长天一色, but the tone sounds weird or even funny.
As far as ...
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或(者)，或是 and 或者是 difference?
What is the difference between those three words? I've been trying to find the answer, but some says they are all the same, some that 或者 is more formal, and some (but i think that person was a ...
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Difference Between 玩意 and 名堂
What is the difference between 玩意 and 名堂?
I learnt from other sources that 玩意 is the expression from 北方人 when they are upset about something like 这是什么玩意啊? (equal to 这是什么鬼啊?) (correct me if I'm wrong), ...
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What is the difference between 尽力而为 and 全力以赴?
I heard the following from a radio show, in which the hostess said (something about the recent flood in Beijing ), "我们的责任和希望不在于尽力而为，而在于全力以赴".
In my opinion, both idioms mean to go all out or ...
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小学生读小学，中学生读中学，大学生读大学，研究生读什么？
在中文中，我们通常说：
小学生读小学。
中学生读中学。
大学生读大学。
这些句子描述学生的学习阶段。
（老实说，我不知道怎么用英文表达这些句子。在这个语境中，Assistant把“读”翻译成“to attend”，但是我认为这个英文单词，意思和参加、出席更近。说不定，英文中没有这个概念，不能直接地翻译。）
以上三个例句我能理解，不过进一步考虑后，我被以下的问题难住了：
题：小学生读小学，...
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Is 吹空调 grammatically correct?
When waiting in line for seats at 南京大牌档 a few days back, a local famous eatery in Nanjing, Jiangsu, I heard a man say "别在外面站着，先进来吹空调".
This is a little weird. 空调 is air conditioner, how can ...
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Would it be considered rude to describe my Australian passport as having 优势 ("superiority"), and is there a better phrasing?
CC-CEDICT: 优势 (yōushì) superiority / dominance / advantage
I recall at one point having a conversation with a Chinese person about international travel, and regarding my passport, I said something ...
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How can I express "the less I think about it, the happier I am"?
I often find that the more I think about a certain issue or problem, the more stressed and unhappy I become (it's called "ruminating"). On the other hand, if I can manage to let go of my ...
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Why is 主人翁 used instead of just 主人 in 发扬主人翁精神?
As we know 主人is the host,主人翁the old male host, is it necessary to stress the gender and age in the slogan 发扬主人翁精神 that can often be seen in official documents or mainstream news reports? What is the ...
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Confused about 生气/着急/担心
This is from a random hsk 5 practice exam I found online. Confused about the answer to 51 being 生气 here. I chose 着急. My thinking is that 着急 is most similar to anxious in English, which is why the wife ...
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A question about mixture of 全称 and 简称
For example, there is a college known as 华中科技大学 based in Wuhan, Hubei Province，and another college 中国科技大学 in Hefei, Anhui Province. So far there is not anything unusual until it turns out that the ...
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Why 今 and 今天 both mean “today”?
They can both mean the same thing, but is there a specific case why you would use 今 instead of 今天?
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How do Chinese musicians count beats in Mandarin?
When counting beats in a song, in English we would say "1 and, 2 and, 3 and" etc. where 1, 2 and 3 are beats and "and"s are spaces between them. You can also split the rhythm into ...
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HSK6 (H61002) Q.69 about yawning: How can we conclude the answer is A?
打哈欠是人类的一种本能行为,非 [???] 意志所能控制。当一个人受到劳累、睡意等因素的 [???] 时,会引起相关分子大量分泌,进而引起“哈欠中枢” [???] ,随即向人体肌肉发出“指令”,有关的肌肉严格 [???] “指令”运动,于是,一个哈欠 [???] 了。
A: 主观 刺激 兴奋 遵照 诞生
B: 客观 袭击 异常 采取 产生
C: 自身 打扰 快乐 贯彻 发生
D: 自我 麻烦 ...
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HSK6 (H61329) Q.69 about "由厚到薄" vs. "由薄到厚": How can we conclude the correct answer is 3.?
This is HSK6 past exam H61329 question 69 (fill-in-the-blank).
华罗庚把读书过程总结为“由厚到薄”和“由薄到厚”两个阶段。当你对书的内容有了_____的了解，抓住了全书的_____时，书就由厚变薄了。如果在读书过程中，你还能对各章节做深入_____，在每页上添加注解，_____参考资料，书又会愈读愈厚。读书就是由厚到薄，...
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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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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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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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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 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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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
...
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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