Best Chinese Synonyms book?
rabaka_g
October 29, 2013, 08:48 AM posted in General DiscussionHi. I've got about 1500 characters under my belt, and lately my most common problem is working out the subtle differences between all the new words I'm learning 比方说 立刻和马上； 提议和建议。Because a dictionary pretty much provides the same definition, I need another reference to understand the difference.
I've researched and found the following books:
1700 Groups of Frequently Used Chinese Synonyms
& Chinese Synonyms Usage Dictionary by Teng Shou-hsin
The 2nd one seems the best to me, however I can't read traditional characters so I don't think I'll get this one.
Does anyone have any other recommendations for a book to thoroughly explain the differences between synonyms?
Thanks a lot
Rebecca
rabaka_g
November 07, 2013, 08:03 AMTing Yun, Thanks a lot for your comments, I'll have a look into that
tingyun
October 29, 2013, 02:01 PMYou probably just need a good dictionary that explains such things. For example, the longman dictionary and 现代规范汉语词典 both have fairly extensive entries comparing words close in meaning - I'll drop examples from both below (longman is in traditional charecters, but if you are already to the point of worrying about small differences in meaning or usage it is probably time to learn both charecter sets anyway, as it is really easy - alternatively yo could rely primarily on 现代规范汉语词典 or drop the entires from longman into google translate and tell it to turn them into simplified). Both are available through pleco.
Any entries not featured in either probably have a prettysignificant difference in usage that you will pick naturally from exposure (ie, 马上 is colloquial, 立刻 is more formal, you don't need a dictionary for that as you will pick it up uncionciously through exposure once you are reading or talking regularly) - lots of things will come naturally as you are exposed to more of the language.
登時
dēng shí
立刻﹐馬上。
【登時•馬上】
dēng shí / mǎ shàng
都是立刻的意思﹐都是表示時間短暫的副詞。區別在：「登時」多用於敍述過去的事情﹐如「喜訊傳來﹐大家登時歡呼了起來」﹔「馬上」多用於眼前的事情﹐如「快進站﹐火車馬上開了」。「登時」常用於書面語﹐「馬上」多用於口語。
以至
yǐzhì
❶ [连] 连接词或词组(连接的词语不止两项时用在最后两项之间),表示在时间、数量、范围、程度等方面的延伸,有“直到”“直至”的意思 ▷熟练的技能是经十次、百次～上千次的练习才能获得的｜家用电器、服装鞋帽、床上用品～日用小百货都已准备齐全。 ❷ [连] 连接分句,用在后一分句开头,表示上述情况所产生的结果 ▷科学技术发展得如此迅猛,～科学工作者都感到有重新学习的必要。☛ “以至”②跟“以致”有所不同。“以至”②含“甚至”的意味,所连接的结果多是上面词语或分句所说情况的延续或程度的加深,可以是好的,也可以是坏的；“以致”含“致使”的意味,所连接的多是不好的或说话人不希望的结果。