Become

zhenkuaile
 October 14, 2011, 01:05 PM posted in General Discussion

In English the word become is very general. Chinese has many ways of saying it. One of the most confusing I think is the difference between 成为 chéngwéi and 变成 biànchéng.  Is there some simple rule to help us see how to use these two words correctly?

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John
 October 18, 2011, 05:57 AM

Zhenkuaile,

If you're looking for a simple way to help you differentiate the two, I'd say think of 成为 as "to become" and think of 变成 as "turn into" or "change into."

It's no iron-clad rule by any means, but it should provide a little extra guidance to help you.