Top 5 Mandarin, Near Synonyms

As a Mandarin learner in Shanghai one of the biggest challenges I faced was learning the different usages of words in Chinese that had very similar meanings (near-synonyms).

I found some of these near-synonyms very difficult to remember so below is Mandarin House’s Top 5 list of Mandarin near synonyms and a short explanation of the differences.

1, 二èr and 两 liǎng

This is probably the first Mandarin near synonym you’ll learn in your course. What’s the difference between二èr and 两liǎng?

·二, èr: is used with numbers. If you’re counting, writing the date or telling someone your address use二èr.
·两, liǎng: is used to show the quantity of something. So if you want to say two people (两个人), two days (两天)or two beers (两个啤酒) use liǎng.

A good way to help with these two is don’t put a measure after 二èr.

2, 不 bù and 没有méiyǒu

不 bù and 没méi are two near synonyms that are both used to indicate a negative sentence. Again you will learn the difference between these two quite quickly in your Mandarin course so try to spend some time to master them as it will help with you to contextualize the spoken language:

·不bù is generally used to negate an action in the present or future ( Although it can be used to show a negative past action this is not it’s most common usage). For example: 我不知道选什么。
·没méi on the other hand cannot be used for the future tense and is commonly used to show either the past tense or the Chinese equivalent of the present perfect. 我没吃早饭。

3, 帮忙bāngmáng and 帮助bāngzhù

It’s important to be able to ask someone for help in any language but in Mandarin how do you do that when there are two different words?

·帮忙bāngmáng is used to ask for help when you know the specific time and task that you need help with. This is especially true if you are asking for help in the present time. For example, 我需要帮忙 (I need help now).
·帮助 bāngzhù, is used to show that help has been offered or given in no specific cases. For example, 我们互相帮助. Let’s help each other.

4, 讲话jiǎnghuà，说话shuōhuà，谈话tánhuà

After several years of Mandarin study I still sometimes use these incorrectly in spoken Mandarin. Let me give you some tips on the differences:

·讲话jiǎnghuà indicates one person talking to (rather than talking with) another person or group of people. It tends to indicate a monologue rather than a dialogue. It is often used when people are talking about lectures. For example, 老师要来跟我们讲话。
·谈话 tánhuà is normally used to indicate someone talking with other people. It tends to indicate a dialogue. For example, 他们两个在谈话。
·说话shuōhuà in contrast to the other two can be used to show that you are talking more freely and with a less well defined purpose.

5，身体shēntǐ and身材shēncái

Very important these two. They will likely be used in a lot of your day-to-day Mandarin conversations.

·身体shēntǐ means body and it is often used to talk about health. For example 我身体不好。 This literally translates as “My body is not good” but the meaning is more similar to my health is not good.
·身材shēncái means “figure.” It indicates the physical appearance of one’s body. 我身材不好, it means my figure is not good.

Ok so those are our top five Mandarin near synonyms. If you have any questions please let us know here or on our Facebook site here.