对于 AND 关于
daveyjohn
March 19, 2009, 06:50 AM posted in General DiscussionIs there any difference in usage between
对于 and 关于?
they both mean "regarding" right?
daveyjohn
March 19, 2009, 06:40 PMif they're both the same, then how come in
some HSK multiple choice questions, there's a choice between the 2? which would imply a slight difference in usage
daizi
March 19, 2009, 08:05 PMSorry, I was just being flip. Prescriptive grammarians (people who write exams like HSK) tend to view language as having static rules. They love to put confusing, overlapping items on exams like the subtle, historic differences between 对于 and 关于. There is much disagreement as to the current state of the usage of these two prepositions, which both mean "in regard to." Often as not, they are totally interchangeable.
Some grammarian's might point out the following differences:
关于 is only placed at the beginning of a sentence; 对于 can be placed either at the beginning or the middle.
If referencing a clear-cut, specific object, use 对于; to show something affecting something else, use 关于.
Use 关于 in a title or heading: "Regarding Such and Such"
But like many subtle differences in language usage, these neat rules are subject to "misuse" and subsequent change. I think we're witnessing the melding of these two formerly disparate words.
changye
March 20, 2009, 03:37 AM关于 and 对于 are sometimes interchangeable, but basically they have different connotations. 关于 implies "about/relating to", while 对于 "toward". The two characters 关 and 对 clearly indicate the difference.
And this is the very reason why you can say "关于中国历史的书" (a book about/on Chinese history), but definitely not "对于中国历史的书".
By the same token, the 对于/关于 in the following senteces are not interchangeable. 关于中国，我知道得很少 (I don't know much about China) / 对于中国，我很感兴趣 (I'm interested in China).
daizi
March 19, 2009, 04:50 PMNo. Yes.