jbradfor Posted October 6, 2009 at 02:21 PM Report Share Posted October 6, 2009 at 02:21 PM I'm having trouble distinguishing the meaning of these two characters. [The fact that they are pronounced the same doesn't help!] They both have similar meaning of to investigate. Any suggestions on how to distinguish the meaning? Or should I just not worry about it and just learn the words that use them instead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeyah Posted October 6, 2009 at 05:49 PM Report Share Posted October 6, 2009 at 05:49 PM Try comparing 察看 vs 查看: 察看>>watch, survey, look around, scrutinize (usu. a place/location or a situation)>观察,考察 ((地方,情况),hence 警察 。。。的情况>>察看。。。的卫生情况 。。。XX 的房间(looking for evidence, etc) + the phrase 四面察看 (referring to location) 查看>>check, examine, look over, go over (usu. a document, a list/book) >>检查, 翻检着看(翻动查看(书籍、文件等) 上网查看以下 search online 查看电子邮件 check e-mail 查看证书 examine a certificate but then there's also 调查 for 现场考察 ... looking through evidence in a specific location, probably Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbradfor Posted October 6, 2009 at 09:16 PM Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2009 at 09:16 PM Hummm, OK. So the difference I get from this is that 察 deals more with the physical world (e.g. looking at physical objects), while 查 deals more with the mental world (e.g. looking for meaning). Does that seem close? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muyongshi Posted October 7, 2009 at 12:11 AM Report Share Posted October 7, 2009 at 12:11 AM In these situations it is always best to like at a chinese-chinese dictionary. And by doing so we find that there is some overlap. 查->检查;调查;翻检着看 察->仔细看;调查 So we see that the do share the similar meaning of 调查 and we can also see that the 范围 of 察 is a bit narrower, meaning that the situations in which it used and the words it is 搭配ed with are probably going to be less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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