zhidao or renshi: I'm confused!

[Wang7]

Textbook say, "...zhidao means to know of or be aware of, and renshi means to recognize or to acquire knowledge through learning..."

If I translate the following sentence from English to Chinese "Do you know him?" which "to know" do I use? Thanks.

[Hofmann]

知道 is basically "know" or "know of." 認識 is firmly in the "recognize" meaning.

In English, "Do you know him?" can mean a few things, including "Do you know of him?" and "Do you recognize him?"

"Do you know of him?" would be "你知道他嗎？" and "Do you recognize him?" would be "你認識他嗎?"

[rezaf]

你知道她是誰嗎？＝ 你認識她嗎？

[amandagmu]

Have you ever studied another language? I am fluent in French and when I think of this issue I just remember the usage of savoir (to have the knowledge of something, usually something concrete - "I know what time the library closes" ＝ 知道) versus connaitre (to know=recognize/have familiarity with - "yes, I know him" = 认识).

[sunny zhang]

知道（zhidao) is he/she know somebody, but somebody doesn't know he/she; 认识(renshi)is guys know each other.

eg. I know(知道) David Beckham, but David Beckham doesn't know(知道) me, so we don't recognize(认识) each other.

"Do you know him?" not only can be translated to "你知道他吗?"，but also "你认识他吗?"。 It depends on if you know each other.

[Freek]

renshi is more used for people (it has ren in it)

zhidao is more to know things, or names of stuff.

[memo789]

My first example of the use of 知道 was in an email from my instructor regarding the choice of a place to eat.

Her statement was 我不知道这地方。In French this would have to be "Je ne connais pas cet endroit." The savoir/connaître

analogy does not work here. (But maybe it is approximately correct, I don't know. French is my mother tongue, but

I am a beginner in Chinese.)

[skylee]

renshi is more used for people (it has ren in it)

Freek, I suppose you know that the "ren" in "renshi" is not the same as the "ren" that mean people ... or do you?

[renzhe]

Well, the simplified 认 does have a 人 in it, but that's obviously just phonetic

Back to the question, when using 认识 with people, I tend to think of it as having met someone before, it's an acquaintance. When you really "know" somebody (what they are like as a person), then it's 了解. But to be honest, I was busted for messing this up just the other day.

知道 is usually about knowing facts, not knowing people. Like Hoffman said, 你知道他吗 can be used, but to me it seems that there are more common ways to say it.

[rezaf]

I know what 你知道她嗎？means but I never use it because it sounds incomplete to me. I mean after something as big as 知道 I expect something more specific like ...她是誰嗎？／他的名字嗎？／他的故事嗎？／她的祕密嗎？...

I'd like to know what others think.

[amandagmu]

@memo: That's interesting... a good point. I'm not sure anymore! :blink: Shoot, maybe I have been going around using 认识 and 知道 incorrectly... well, add that to the list of other things I screw up grammatically in Chinese.