What's the difference between 跟 and 和 ?

[gamerfu]

What's the difference between 跟 and 和 ?

跟 Example:

小張跟小白一起吃午飯.

小張跟小白一起練習吧.

和 Example:

小張和小白都有弟弟.

小張和小白都有律師.

Thank you in advance.

[anonymoose]

Deleted post because I was wrong. Thanks, Skylee, for the correction.

[nitbj]

跟 and 和 can act as either a 'conjunction' or a 'preposition'

your example:

小張跟小白一起吃午飯.

小張跟小白一起練習吧.

跟 here is a preposion, translation form of 'with', which can be replaced by 和.

your example:

小張和小白都有弟弟.

小張和小白都有律師.

和 here is a conjunction, translation form of 'and', which can be repalced by 跟 in case of spoken language.

[skylee]

Xiao Zhang and Xiao Bai both have younger brothers.

Here' date=' there is no concept of 'together with', so you can only use 和 and not 跟[/quote']

I don't think I agree.

Here is what my dictionary says about 跟 -

3. 連詞，相當於“和”，表示並列：我跟他是同學。

4. 介詞，相當於“同”、“向”：今天跟昨天一樣熱/你跟他說一說。

[gamerfu]

From my understanding, please correct me if I am wrong.

3. 連詞，相當於“和”，表示並列：我跟他是同學。

跟 and 和 are equal according to definition 3.

4. 借此，相當於“同”、“向”：今天跟昨天一樣熱/你跟他說一說。

Definition 4 says it can also be best described as "with" or "approaches". So, if the two subjects are an equal scenerio then you would use 跟. Correct? But wouldn't all scenerios using "and" always be the same? I am having a hard time understanding definition 4.

Deleted post because I was wrong. Thanks, Skylee, for the correction.

Please don't delete your post.

[skylee]

I am no good at explaining grammar at all. But I think that some meanings of 和 and 跟 (and also 同) overlap and thus can be used in most cases interchangeably to express "with", "together with", and "and"; and to express that the same thing happens to two or more persons / things. I think the 和 in the last two examples in #1 can be replaced by 跟 .

There are people here who are good at chinese grammar. Maybe they can help more.

Oh maybe it is also useful to also look at what my dictionary says about "和" and "同" -

和

6. 連詞，同“跟”：學生和老師。

7. 介詞，向，對：此事我和他說過。

同

2. 一齊，一起：同學/共同/同甘共苦。

3. 介詞，相當於“跟”：我同幾位朋友談過。

4. 連詞，跟“和”相同(OMG )：我同哥哥一起上學。

Hope it is not very confusing.

[HashiriKata]

Hope it is not very confusing.

Ok, I'll add to the confusion :

In the (grammatical) subject position, 和 and 跟 are basically the same but when you say A跟B (instead of A和B), A is usually the main or the more active participant/ partner.

In the object position, the difference is clearer: you normally use A和B, and not A跟B.

So, on the whole, it may be convenient to associate 和 with "and" and 跟 with "with" in English.

[skylee]

In the object position, the difference is clearer: you normally use A和B, and not A跟B.

I'm not sure if this is true.

[HashiriKata]

I'm not sure if this is true.

How dare you say that !?

Seriously, do you think it'd still sound natural/ correct to replace the 和 in the following examples with 跟 ?

我买了一支笔和三本书。

我喜欢听通俗音乐和爵士音乐，不太喜欢古典音乐。

他会说英语和日语。

[skylee]

Seriously, do you think it'd still sound natural/ correct to replace the 和 in the following examples with 跟 ?

我买了一支笔和三本书。

我喜欢听通俗音乐和爵士音乐，不太喜欢古典音乐。

他会说英语和日语。

I think it is ok.

[Koneko]

Seriously, do you think it'd still sound natural/ correct to replace the 和 in the following examples with 跟 ?

我买了一支笔和三本书。

我喜欢听通俗音乐和爵士音乐，不太喜欢古典音乐。

他会说英语和日语。

I think it's okay too! 和 is used more commonly in written Chinese while 跟 is less formal.

K.

[[欧阳江]]

和，跟，与，同 are all pretty similar.

They can all serve as a preposition:

我（和，跟，与，同）一道去。

And as a conjunction:

他（和，跟，与，同）我都是中国人。

The difference, as far as I know is how and where they are used.

和：Written and spoken Chinese (most common)

跟：Spoken Chinese (mainly in North China)

与：Written Chinese

同：Spoken Chinese (mainly in the Chinese inland)

[skylee]

The difference, as far as I know is how and where they are used.

What a great explanation.

I thought about mentioning 與 but dropped the idea to avoid further confusing the OP.

[gougou]

It‘s interesting how I, as a non-native speaker, have the same notion as HarishiKata, that 跟 would sound strange in the sentences he provided. Where do we learn that???

About 同, is it really used in speaking mainly? I had encountered it in writing only and was under the impression that it was an obscure part of Chinese 书面语。

[Jose]

For whatever reason, it is very common in textbooks to translate 跟 as 'with' and 和 as 'and', which probably leads us learners into thinking that there is a difference in meaning between the two. On the contrary, I think 欧阳江's explanation is spot on. 和, 跟, 同 and 与 all have the same meaning, the difference being in the degree of formality rather than in semantics. I would only add that 同 seems to be more common in the spoken Mandarin used by southern speakers, so 跟 / 同 would be the Northern / Southern informal term for neutral 和 and formal 与.

[Koneko]

That's right! We would only use 同 in Hakka dialect to express "and, with etc"

[Southernjohn]

and cantonese uses 同。

southernjohn

[gamerfu]

謝謝你! 您全部是大幫助.

[mph]

According to various Chinese Grammar textbooks, one use for 跟 is "to accompany".

跟 Example: (means to accompany)

By the looks of it the "accompany pattern" is the theme for the first two of your examples

小張跟小白一起吃午飯.

Xiao zhang in the company of xiao bai ....

小張跟小白一起練習吧.

Xiao zhang in the company of xiao bai ....

Another use for 跟 is for the comparison pattern....

A 跟 B 一樣

這本書跟那本書一樣。

This means A is the same as B.

A 跟 B 一樣 adjective.

我跟你一樣忙。

He is just as busy as I am.

和 is used to connect nouns pronouns and nominal expressions to mean "and"

Your 和 Examples:

小張和小白都有弟弟.

小張和小白都有律師.

The grammar books say that if there are more than two nouns in the subject then the 都 is optional.

Also 和 is never used to join clauses. Normally 和 is never used to join verbs or adjectives.

Following these patterns is probably what your teacher is expecting you to answer in the exams.

Hope this helps.

mph

[Lugubert]

To further complicate things, how necessary is 和 (etc.) if you want to say A, B and C did this. Couldn't you just write them end on end?

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