synonyms

[jadeblomma]

Since there are no exact lexical synonyms I wonder how the followings words differ in meaning::

daifu - yisheng (Can both of them be used in both direct and indirect speech?)

cesuo - xishoujian

fandian - fanguan

hanyu - zhongwen- zhongguo hua

jiaoshi - laoshi

zuoye - gongke

xingxitian - xingqiri

[zigzagzerg]

daifu - yisheng (Can both of them be used in both direct and indirect speech?)

yes

daifu is mostly used in north area while yisheng is used in south.

[renzhe]

Most of these are valid alternatives to each other.

cesuo - xishoujian

toilet - washroom

fandian - fanguan - jiujia

the first one is the most common in spoken language, the others are common on signs

hanyu - zhongwen- zhongguo hua - guoyu

mostly a matter of where you are. Hanyu is common in the mainland (more often for spoken Chinese) and often Mandarin is implied. Guoyu is used in Taiwan for Standard Mandarin. Putonghua is used in the Mainland to mean Standard Mandarin (though in my experience, native speakers would rather say Hanyu or Zhongwen instead). Zhongwen is universal across dialects and written/spoken language. I don't hear Zhongguohua often.

jiaoshi - laoshi

You'd address your teacher as laoshi, jiaoshi simply describes their job.

xingxitian - xingqiri

the first is more spoken.

(non-native speaker disclaimer. Listening to me is like a 50-50 joker )

[Shadowdh]

Is there a list of synonyms or a good resource that would help with them?? Like a thesaurus or something?

[Hanyu'sWay]

Renzhe's answer is 100%. I just want to point out that FanDian (饭店） in the past was often used to name a hotel while FanGuan(饭馆） is strictly a restaurant.

圆山饭店 used to be considered the number one hotel in Taiwan.