Questions tagged [word-choice]
Questions about what word fits better in a certain context or situation.
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What are the advantages of 人类将如何演变 over 人性会怎么改变?
I'm analyzing Writing critique request: Zhou Ziwang and the revolutionary new technology and in particular these two sentences:
Intended English meaning: How will mankind change?
My writing: ...
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Why use 碰头 (pèngtóu) to mean "meet" instead of say 见, 见面, or 看见? (In e.g. 过两分钟我们在外面碰头)
In the Chinese translation of Matilda (p. 195), we have:
“好，你把东西收拾一下，过两分钟我们在外面碰头。”
"Good. Gather up your things and I'll meet you outside in a couple of minutes."
and on the next page:
...
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Difference between 什么都不 and 什么都没
Is it a difference in the tenses? Like one's a present and the other is future? Explain with examples please
And can we say 什么也不 and 什么也没？
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What are the criteria used on dictionaries to decide word classes?
Mandarin is a complete MESS regarding word classes. I can't think of an example right now, but I'm completely sure there are some words that reach the point of being a noun, adjective, verb and adverb ...
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Is 批判 or 批评 better in 别人总是批判我?
I wrote this:
现在我觉得伊斯兰规矩太多了，别人总是批判我。
I currently feel like Islam has too many rules, other people are always criticizing me.
My teacher and I had a somewhat long discussion as to whether it ...
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Is there a neutral way of saying "deliberately"?
I wrote a sentence which involved 故意 (gùyì; deliberately) and my teacher explained that 故意 is a negative word: you can't deliberately do something good using 故意. (I won't reproduce that sentence, ...
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How is my sentence? 我以为我没有工商卡，可是，我顺便找到了。
I wrote this message to a friend on WeChat, who previously helped me open a 工商银行 account:
我以为我没有工商卡，可是，我顺便找到了。我说错了。
I thought I had no ICBC bankcard, but, I stumbled upon one. I said the wrong ...
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Is there something wrong with saying 千万不喜欢 to mean I absolutely do not like something?
This sentence seems unproblematic:
我不喜欢抽烟。
I don't like smoking.
But I want to emphasize the strength of my dislike:
我千万不喜欢抽烟。
However, searching for "千万不喜欢" on Baidu doesn't give many hits, ...
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Is it essential to highlight the use of a metaphor with 像...那样 or something to this effect?
In the 标准教程HSK4上 book, chapter 6, 课文1, I felt 张远 was being annoying by asking a lot of questions about why 李进 didn't answer his phone. So I wrote:
如果别人不想接电话，不用审问TA。
My teacher was surprised by my ...
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What's the difference between 校园 (meaning "campus") and 校院? Is 校院 incorrect?
It seems like 校院 is infrequently used, while 校园 is normal. I'm not sure if this is because 校院 is incorrect, or because it's less common.
It's possible to find examples of 校院 being used online, e.g. ...
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What's wrong with 空调制冷得不太好 meaning "The air conditioner cools poorly"?
I thought
空调制冷得不太好
would be perfectly fine, using the grammar structure
Subj. + Verb + 得 + Complement
Chinese Grammar Wiki
But there's no hits on Baidu for "制冷得不太好" which is a strong ...
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Different types of rain in Chinese?
Inspired by this question on the Spanish stack exchange
Things like drizzle, mist, or downpour?
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a word/phrase for 贪小便宜的
Need a word to describe someone who doesn't need the product but buys it because he/she has a coupon.
I would use 贪小便宜的 , but what is a proper equivalent in English
Have seen the posts
https://...
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Is this an awkward ordering of words? (Cantonese)
In the following sentence: 你要重新開過一次機。
The official translation is: you will have to restart the machine again.
I feel this Has a very awkward word order since the object (機) is at the last after a ...
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How to determine if a word occurs more in written or spoken language?
I recently encountered the word 随着, which was translated by my text as a figurative "following", as in "Following X, Y". At first glance, this "following" translation sounds very formal, almost too ...
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到 vs 至, what is the key difference?
As if them sharing a common appearance isn't enough, yabla shows that they can for the most part be used interchangeably. Since they mean nearly the same exact thing with a few caveats, what is the ...
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Should one say "习题解答与提示" or "习题解答或提示"？
If the appendix of a textbook consists of the solutions to some exercises and hints to other exercises, should it be named as "习题解答与提示"or"习题解答或提示"？
Edit:
The following is from 《群表示论》by Prof. 丘维声, ...
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Is "保守" considered derogatory in Chinese?
In English, the word "conservative" seems neutral. However, the Chinese word "保守" seems to carry a negative connotation (Am I right)? What word should I use if I would like to express the english word ...
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Can 吃 be used for liquids?
I was confused by the lyrics of the children's song 三个和尚:
一个和尚挑水吃
两个和尚抬水吃
三个和尚没水吃呀
三个和尚没水吃
没水吃呀
I've seen other versions of the song that use 喝 instead of 吃, which makes more sense to me....
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What exactly does 拆开 mean and is it commonly used?
I've been trying to figure out how exactly to use 拆开 and what it means since I saw it in a song: Mine, Mine by 周杰伦.
In the song, the translation i got was disassembling which i would think to be like ...
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Why “外籍球员” is written as "外援" instead of "外员"？
"外援" literally means "foreign assistance". Why are "外籍球员" called "外援" then?
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What are the differences between 本 and 版 when it comes to edition
I’ve found that 本 and 版 can be used to describe the edition of a published material, but do they have any differences between them? If they have, please give some examples
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How to say 反常识的 in English?
How to properly translate 反常识的 to English in academic writing? I want to express a surprising and unusual phenomenon that shouldn't appear in an experiment, which is not expected and against the ...
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Fixing sentences with object and complement after a verb
While perusing an article on allsetlearning.com about complements, I came across an interesting example of an ungrammatical sentence: 回来中国, where the object and complement are both placed after the ...
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Difference between 给 and 跟 (e.g. in 我给你讲 and 我跟你讲)?
What is the difference between 我给你讲 and 我跟你讲? These two phrases both seem to translate to I told you. But when would one be preferable to another?
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Does 害虫 and 益虫 cover different types of animals?
I’ve been looking into the word “pest”, and the dictionary showed me 害虫, but 虫 means insects, so I wonder whether the word 害虫 only means harmful insects or it also can be used to refer to other pests ...
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Is "繁体字" a “贬义词”？
Since "繁" means "complicated"; “繁体字” seems to have a slightly negative implication. Would "正体字" be a better translation for "traditional Chinese"?
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Is Autumn being referred to by the female pronoun 她? Is this normal?
This is from my 3-rd grade 语文 book (there's a version here):
现在正是金秋时节。我们已经看到了她缤纷的色彩， 听见了她美妙的声音，分享了她带给我们的欢乐。
I translate this to:
It's currently Golden Autumn. We already see her diverse (缤纷的) ...
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What are the differences between 违犯 and 违反?
Both 违犯 and 违反 share the meaning "to violate".
What are the differences between these two?
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Differences between 移民 and 移居
The two words 移民 and 移居 are really confusing to me, I’ve searched the dictionary but they are still vague to me. Can someone help me with the use of these 2 words and add some examples?
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Various uses of the English "for" to indicate purpose
The sentences below all use the word "for" to indicate purpose. I tried to think of a few sentences that may use "for" a little bit differently. Can you help me understand how to use "for" in Chinese?
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Why is 弄 (nòng) in 他终于弄明白了?
I found the following sentence in a grade three 语文 school book in China (transcript).
他终于弄明白了，这块大石头是从遥远的秦岭被冰川带到这里来的。
[My translation] He finally understood, this big rock is from the distant ...
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快 vs 快点, what's the point of "点" in this case?
快 is one of the HSK level 2 vocabulary words which means "quick". Issue is this: I know online translators are unreliable but each translator I've used translates "快点去开门" as "Go and get the door" ...
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What is the Chinese equivalent of the English morpheme 'e-' indicating "digitalization"?
For instance, "email" (or "e-mail") is one that has been essentially canonized (e.g. it has been added to various canonical dictionaries), but what about other instances of the addition of this ...
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Why does 你可以再用一点遮瑕的东西 use 东西?
There’s this sentence in one of DuChinese’s readings :
首先，我们要涂粉底液。如果你的黑眼圈很严重，你可以再用一点遮瑕的东西。
It makes me confused why the writer doesn’t add “的东西” when they mentioned “粉底” in the first sentence but ...
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Why does the second sentence use 个?
I read this sentence today :
每天给自己的手机充电，
也不要忘了给自己的口语充个电！
I wonder why the second sentence use 个 between 充 and 电 while the first one doesn’t.
Could anyone please explain it to me?
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尚活 can still work without 着?
Can this two hanzi alone "尚活" support the meaning "still alive" without this last one "着"?
And if yes, what does "着" add to the general sense?
I mean, what's the difference between "活着" and "活"? I'...
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忍耐 vs 忍受 usage/difference
Based on the dictionary, 忍耐 = endure, bear with, restraint oneself while 忍受 = bear, endure. But when I look at sample sentences, the usage of both words sort of overlap each other. So how do I use ...
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Is this translation English to Chinese translation correct or close?
An unprecedented look into the food and culture of ice, from Iceland's premier chef and the owner of Reykjavik's Restaurant Dill.
一个史无前例的食物和冰岛的文化，从冰岛总理厨师和雷克雅未克的所有者迪尔餐厅。
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What's the difference between 都 and 对? [closed]
I've seen these two sentences on Duolingo:
我们都是老师。 (We are all teachers.)
他们对不是美国人。 (None of them are American.) (Not sure if this was exactly the one that I was supposed to translate...)
But the ...
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Usage of 万 (wàn): ten thousands or just a great number?
I noticed that very often the word 万 (wàn) occurs in poetry (e.g. poetry of the Tang dynasty). My dictionary reports its meaning as "ten thousands", but it looks like it's used in place of a generic "...
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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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Metaphorical "opening" translation
I'm writing about certain historical leaders of China, and I'd like to say something along the lines of "he opened China to foreign investment" or "he opened China to foreign influence", etc. I can ...
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生抽 vs. 酱油- differences?
I was looking at this recipe here: https://www.xinshipu.com/zuofa/9787, and noticed the word "生抽“. After inputting it in various online translators, they all said it meant soy sauce. However, the ...
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"The people" translation?
I'm trying to express the idea of a government shifting to democracy. The sentence I'm trying to say is "that forced the government to listen to the people", and I can translate it all except "the ...
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衰落：decadence or decline?
I'm trying to describe the plot of the work 红楼梦 using the phrase "the 贾 family's decline". The word for decline, though is confusing me. After putting "decline" through a few online translators, I've ...
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What is the difference between 元 (圓), 幣, and 金?
In currency exchange booths, and in conversation, I've noticed this:
US dollar = 美元, 美金.
Hong Kong dollar = 港幣
Japanese Yen = 日元
Singapore dollar = 新幣
Euro = 歐元
There's also 英鎊 for the pound ...
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Words for "thing"? Different usages? 办法说“事情“或者”东西“？用的时候是一样的吗？
I know a few words for "thing“， including 东西 and 事情. I've looked online, and haven't found any other commonly used words, or indication of when to use which. Are they the same? Is one more formal than ...
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What is the difference between 華誕 and 誕辰?
Both 華誕 and 誕辰 are more respectful ways of saying 生日 (birthday).
For 華誕, I have seen: "最高元首華誕", "蘇丹華誕", "日本皇華誕".
For 誕辰, I have seen: "國父誕辰", "先知默罕默德誕辰".
Sometimes, within a text, I see 華誕 being ...
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Usage advice: 什么时候vs哪个时候
I am writing a formal business email to a client, and at the end I would like to ask him when would be his most convenient time to have a phone call. The sentence goes like this:
请您让我知道哪个时候您最方便接电话。
...
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