choose & lose

[L-F-J]

A while ago someone posted a topic on all the different ways to say "power/strength" in Chinese asking for an explication on their differences in meaning and grammatical usage with examples.

Here I would like to ask for a similar treatment of the words "to choose/pick/select" and "to lose" (cease to have or retain, not fail) in Chinese.

All of these I understand passively, but I don't use them all actively for the lack of a clear understanding of their usage. For some of them I do know the differences but will list them anyway for the sake of comprehensiveness.

"to choose":

挑

选

挑选

选择

"to lose":

丢

丢失

失去

损失

丧失

[abcdefg]

I learned to use 挑 and 挑定 when I'm talking about choosing things. As in "I'm trying to decide what color shirt to buy."

But I use 选， 选择， or 选定 when talking about a person. As in "I'm trying to choose between Bob and Joe for captain of the basketball team."

Others who know more will doubtless add refinements and/or corrections. But this simple distinction lets me express the idea in daily speech.

Additional disclaimer: Almost every time I stick my neck out and post something like this, it turns out to be wrong.

[chestnut818]

It's my opinion:

挑 ，选 and 挑选 as the meaning of choose almost has the same meaning,but I think 挑is more oral。such as：这么多衣服，你挑/选哪件? 这么多衣服，我不知道怎么选/挑。

选择 can be a verb or a noun, when use as a noun,like，我做了一个选择。it indicates a serious choice, so when use as a verb, it's a little bit formal and literal. such as：选择家庭还是工作，对他来说是很难的问题。

丢，is very commonly use in oral Chinese, you lost something like wallet, money, umbrella, 我丢了钱包。but 丢失 more formal，like：丢失钱财，丢失财物。

失去 can refers to something important or abstract like Chance, family, social status...

损失 is for great loss or serious damage, maybe caused by disaster, economic crisis..such as,龙卷风给这个城市造成了很大损失。or 经济危机让这个公司损失惨重。

丧失 for abstract thing like confidence, courage...

Hope it's helpful，if any mistakes please correct me..

I just 抛砖引玉

[skylee]

Depending on the context, you can also use these words for choose/select - 遴選， 揀， 揀選

And 不見了 and 遺失 can be used to describe losing something.

[L-F-J]

Apart from its usage as a noun, 选择 is apparently a synonym of 挑选.

http://baike.baidu.com/view/53891.htm

As I've seen, 挑 and 选 seem to be interchangeable. If that is true it seems all of these words are interchangeable, except in the case where 选择 is used as a noun.