于

[82riceballs]

I read in an example sentence: 他簡化了指令∼于兒童理解。She simplified the instructions so that the children could understand them.

What does 于 mean?

[gougou]

Shouldn't there be a word that the ~ replaces?

[heartless]

There should be a character before 于. I guess it might be 便. Thus this sentence could be complete and the translation makes sense. Therefore, in this case, it is not 于 that functions on its own but 便于 functions as a phrase, corresponding to the English translation "so...that" or "make something easier".

Hope it can help.

[82riceballs]

yes, heartless is right, i did leave out "bian".

Thanks!

[heartless]

You are welcome. I am happy to help.

[Jose]

Since the original sentence was in traditional characters, it would be more appropriate to use 便於.

Although both 于 and 於 have existed since ancient times, 於 has ended up as the standard traditional character, whereas 于 is the standard simplified character (except for the surname Yū, which is still 於). As both characters exist in either set, software that automatically converts between simplified and traditional often fails with this character, producing traditional texts peppered with 于's or simplified texts with non-surname 於's.

[heartless]

Jose, you're right. Consistency in style is desirable. I am used to using simplified chinese, so I failed to heed it. Thank you for pointing that out.