difference betwwen 'zuo4' and 'gan4'
mnixon
July 30, 2008, 02:42 AM posted in General DiscussionConfused over the difference (if any) between 'zuo4' and 'gan4'. In several lessons, Jenny has said that they are interchangeable, but that 'gan4' is more common colloquially. However, some friends of mine have said that 'gan4' has a negative connotation. My understanding is zuo4 is to do (for a longtime - like a profession or lifelong goal) and gan4 is to do (now - like an activity). Any thoughts?
xiaohu
July 30, 2008, 04:53 AMAnayalena:
If you want to throw two more words that are somewhat related...
1- 弄 nong4: Can mean to do something, but in this case your not referring to "do" in the general sense like, "so what are you doing?"
This word 弄 is used in the case of doing an actual physical activity, IE: 他把我的衬衫弄脏了. (ta1 ba3 wo3 de chen4 shan1 nong4 zang1 le.) "He dirtied up my shirt".
2- 搞 gao3: Is similar to nong4 in terms of the basic meaning, "to do" (something)
But they also carry other meanings, which is what makes these words so much fun.
Here's a fun phrase that originated with my old Mandarin teacher. It's a pretty funny story!
My teacher was driving a Ford, and so I told him the joke about Ford's, that the word "Ford" is an acronym F.O.R.D. that stands for "fix or repair daily".
I thought he knew it was a joke until the next week when I came to class he said, "I attempted to return my car to the dealer last week. You said that the Ford name means 'fix or repair daily' so I went back to the dealership furious and demanded they take that damn car back because everyone knows that Ford means, 'fix or repair daily'!"
"Then they told me that it's just a joke!"
He translated the phrase into Chinese for me as, "每天都要弄一弄搞一搞". (mei3 tian1 dou1 yao4 nong4 yi nong4 gao3 yi gao3)
每天 mei3 tian1 (everyday) 都要 dou1 yao4 (always going to) 弄一弄 nong4 yi nong4 (tinker with) 搞一搞 gao3 yi gao3 (fix)
Here the doubling of the verbs 弄 and 搞 with the 一 in the middle is indicating that you a performing the action of the verb for a time.
Tell your Chinese friends, "我的车, 每天都要弄一弄搞一搞", (wo3 de che1 mei3 tian1 dou1 yao4 nong4 yi nong4, gao3 yi gao3) and see what they say!
John
July 30, 2008, 07:53 AMxiaohu,
I long ago gave up trying to apply rules to these words to distinguish their usage. I would apply my tip #3 (above) to the usage of both 弄 (nòng) and 搞 (gǎo). The more exposure you have to Chinese, the more natural usages you'll hear of each, and you can add those to your list of acceptable "set phrases" for each word.
John
July 30, 2008, 03:41 AManayelena,
It's true that 做 (zuò) and 干 (gàn) often have the same meaning. Here are the tips I would give:
1. 做 (zuò) is more general in application. If you're not sure which to use, use 做 (zuò).
2. 干 (gàn) is more dangerous, so use with care. While both 做 (zuò) and 干 (gàn) can have sexual connotations, it's easier to accidentally say something embarrassing or offensive with 干 (gàn).
3. To use 干 (gàn) safely, use it with set phrases you have learned. Some examples are 干吗 (gàn ma), 你在干什么？ (nǐ zài gàn shénme?), and 干活 (gànhuó).
Experiment! Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Even if you do make an embarrassing blunder here or there, I can tell you from experience, that you will always remember that usage afterward!