谈恋爱

[SeekerOfPeace]

According to Chinesepod.com, this means: to fall in love.

But according to Wenlin (dictionary), it means: to court (the verb).

So which one is right?

Does it changes depending on the context?

[muyongshi]

It doesn't really mean either... There is not a direct translation as it is a concept not a word. But courting is definitely not a good way to describe it in today's society. I am trying to think of a good way to describe it but it can be used in such a variety of situations that it makes it even harder.... Sorry that it's not simpler to explain

[SeekerOfPeace]

I hope you can give me an idea because I'm kind of confused right now.

"Falling in love" being quite distinct from "to court".

[muyongshi]

Well not if you think in the history of the English langauge. People fell in love through courting. 谈恋爱 does not mean to court/date it means to be/fall in love but the usage is even larger. Two people who are dating/boy/girlfriend are 谈恋爱 but the guy at your workplace who stares at a girls picture all day drooling over it, even if they are just friends you can say he is 谈恋爱

Hope that helps a bit. Just think you can use it in a large variety of situation including poking fun at (two little love birds sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g type of thing) and try it out. It works pretty much everywhere

[studentyoung]

I hope you can give me an idea because I'm kind of confused right now.

"Falling in love" being quite distinct from "to court".

他们两个谈恋爱了。They felt in love.

他正在跟小王谈恋爱。He is courting Xiao Wang.

Thanks!

[muyongshi]

他正在跟小王谈恋爱。He is courting Xiao Wang.

I'm sorry studentyoung but if you said that sentence 80 years ago you would be correct but that is far from what it means now.

[studentyoung]

OK, what do it mean now?

Thanks!

[muyongshi]

Courting now only refers to a "method" of dating for all those good little Christians who want to feel better about themselves...(sorry if that is offensive to anyone)

Now we would just say they are in love.... (in terms of the translation of your second example)

[md1101]

true true.. we certainly don't use the word 'courting' these days. i suspect some native speakers may not even know the meaning of the word. but the jist of the meaning is correct. my girl friend always used 'dating' in place of tan lian ai. but again that wont always work.

[muyongshi]

I in some cases prefer 谈恋爱 it works better in my mind than dating. Too bad there is not a better translation for the 随便 dating thing we have in our culture. Then we could have all the levels of a relationship covered....(except I'm not sure what friend with benefits is in Chinese)

[SeekerOfPeace]

Probably the same thing as in English,

A couple of people who are kidding themselves that something like that is remotely possible.

[skylee]

but the guy at your workplace who stares at a girls picture all day drooling over it, even if they are just friends you can say he is 谈恋爱

Well I think you can only say he is drooling. Or 單戀 / 單相思. I think 戀愛 is to be in love. No it is not to court. 談戀愛 shows how we value communication between two people who are in love.

[muyongshi]

Well that was supposed to be the more his friends poking fun at him as he is 发呆ing due to his utter love for 某某

[Luobot]

Definition of Courtship:

"A man pursuing a woman until she catches him."

...

As a stand alone definition, ChinesePod has --

tánliànài

谈恋爱

to fall in love

In their examples, however, the given translation within context is "dating" or "seeing someone," as in the following --

父母反对他谈恋爱的原因是怕谈恋爱耽误了学习。

Fùmǔ fǎnduì tā tánliànài de yuányīnshì pà tánliànài dānwu le xuéxí.

The reason his parents are opposed to his dating is that they are afraid it will affect his studies.

So I would assume that the definition depends on context.

The literal translation, to talk love, agrees with Skylee's emphasis on communication. Of course, it takes a woman to understand those things without a dictionary.