Dictionary search results

[ralphmat]

Hi, I'm a complete beginner to Chinese so I don't know anything about the language really. I've been using a few dictionaries to help search for words I want to know, but whenever I search for really simple words like 'eat' or 'house' there are always so many different search results I don't know which one is correct. I know in English there are different words for the same idea but with words like 'eat' or 'house' there are only really those words to describe them. Am I missing something about Chinese?

Any help would be great and also any advice in learning Chinese would also be great.

Thanks. Xièxie

[Demonic_Duck]

You want an English to Chinese dictionary (ideally one with lots of example sentences), sounds like you're trying to use a Chinese to English dictionary.

 

Anyway, the most common word for "eat" is 吃 chī, and the most common word for "house" is 房子 fángzi.

 

Also...

 

 

I know in English there are different words for the same idea but with words like 'eat' or 'house' there are only really those words to describe them.

I'd like to invite you to dine at my humble abode in order to disabuse you of this notion.

[ralphmat]

Thanks for the advice. I using the pleco dictionary which I understand is one of the better dictionaries. When I searched for 'house' I did get fangzi but I also found wū . Is there a difference? This is what I mean. I'm not sure if there is a difference between the two and there are example sentences but it doesn't really help to differentiate.

Thanks.

[Lu]

I don't think using a dictionary at a very early stage is useful, exactly because of the problem you're running into: you don't know which option is the right one and don't really have the tools to find out. You might want to get a textbook or other type of structured approach. Figuring out which unfamiliar word is the one you mean will always be an issue, but once you know more Chinese, you can look up example sentences, check a Chinese dictionary for nuances, etc. All that is not really feasible at the very start.

[Demonic_Duck]

Well, it depends. If you need to use Chinese in a "survival" situation, a good English->Chinese dictionary paired with a phrasebook could well be very useful. But yeah, for long-term study, you'd definitely be better off with a good textbook instead.

[simpleasy]

http://www.nciku.com is a very good online chinese-english and english-chinese dictionary, mainly because it has example sentences.

The problem with most dictionaries (especially in an early stage of learning) is that they give you several possible translations for one word. Usually the correct translation depends on the context, but you can't search by context in a dictionary. So example sentences could help in that aspect, but of course even that will usually not lead to flawless translations. I don't think there's a better option available though.

 

(Or maybe get yourself one of those living walking dictionaries, I heard there are over a billion different versions available)

[ralphmat]

Thanks for the advice. Can you recommend any good, preferably cheap text books?

Thanks

[roddy]

the pleco dictionary which I understand is one of the better dictionaries

 

Which dictionary, specifically. There are a number of free or paid dictionaries you can use on Pleco. Check out the demos and see which ones provide the best explanations and example sentences (hint: it ain't the free ones).