What is the difference between the following words?

[piano0011]

最近

zuìjìn  versus 

旁边

pángbiān

 

from my understanding, i thought pang2bian1 means nearyby? for example:

wo de jia pangbian you yi ge shudian = there is a bookshop near my house?

I guess another meaning of pangbian means besides like: lai zuoxia zhe wo de pangbian = come and sitdown besides me

Is zuijin4 just an adjective only? hen zuijin you yi ge shudian ma?

Can I use zuijin the same way i used pangbian?

[piano0011]

着

zhe

 

In one of the lessons, the teacher explains that this means a way of doing things but isn't this for a continuous action?

 

ni zouzhe shangban ma? = do you walk to work?

 

can you add zhe after kai1che1= ni jintian kaiche zhe ma? = did you drive today?

[roddy]

I don't know how you are studying, but you're getting very confused somewhere along the way. 最近 means recently. The two characters could have a literal meaning of 'most close' and you might say 'the most-close post office is down that street" but the question 'what's the difference between 最近 / 旁边" is like saying "what's the difference between 'recently' and 'side'" - you're just going to give yourself and anyone who tries to answer the question a headache.

[Li Yuqian]

Wow I am very happy to see you have already understood about some words in Chinese which are talking about something near or even next to one thing. 

Actually when we use zuijin4 to talk about the position of something, we may add a "de"（的）after that, which gives an adjective meaning like nearest or closet since zui4 in Chinese often suggests the meaning of the superlative condition. But in most conditions, zuijin4 is used as an adverb to talk about something that have been done or will be done "recently" or "lately".In another word, it talks about the problem about time. 

The word pang2bian1 is easier, it's an adverb which always gives us the information that the place is very near to something or even next to somewhere and also sometimes you can add an "de"（的）just like a suffix to make it as an adjective word.

So zuijin4 with a "de" sometimes would be an adjective when it is seen in a discuss about the position of something. However zui4 often means "the most" in Chinese so we cannot

[Li Yuqian]

So zuijin4 with a "de" sometimes would be an adjective when it is seen in a discuss about the position of something. However zui4 often means "the most" in Chinese so we cannot use "hen zuijin(de)"because of the conflict between "hen"(very) and zui(most). Obviously "zuozai wo de pangbian" cannot change pangbian into zuijin. You may say "zuozai wo zuijin de difang (sit in the nearest place to me)", it's ok but if you are not willing to emphasize the "nearest", it will be a little strange.

[Li Yuqian]

The word "zhe" usually suggests two possible situations-habits or doing something now. "Zouzhe" indicates the former one. The word  "kaiche1" with "zhe" is ok but customarily we say "kai zhe che" to tell others someone is driving a vehicle.

[honglam]

On 2/1/2024 at 10:25 AM, piano0011 said:

Can I use zuijin the same way i used pangbian?

Well, I don't even think these two words are comparable. Arguing about Chinese grammar is painful, even for me. 最近 and 旁边 are quite quite common in everyday Chinese. I bet you should remember the very usage of those two words separately and clearly.

On 2/1/2024 at 10:27 AM, piano0011 said:

ni zouzhe shangban ma? = do you walk to work?

The translation is correct, but add a 着 here has a consideration of prosody as well.

On 2/1/2024 at 10:27 AM, piano0011 said:

can you add zhe after kai1che1= ni jintian kaiche zhe ma? = did you drive today?

That's not acceptable. BTW this sentence don't have the same structure with "你走着上班吗？". I think at least you should give an example like "你开车着上班吗？"

Here is another problem: 开车 is a compound verb of verb-object structure. If you want add a 着 to such a verb, you should say 开着车. That's to say, "你开着车上班吗？"

And, I don't really think that "你今天开着车吗" has a meaning of "the way of doing things" as well. Here it has the meaning of continuous action instead.

On 2/1/2024 at 10:27 AM, piano0011 said:

In one of the lessons, the teacher explains that this means a way of doing things but isn't this for a continuous action?

As I've stated once, any foreign Chinese learners should understand, that the language they are learning and their mother tongue, are two languages with great difference. SO, receive the knowledge the lecturers are giving, and put forward only the point you find confusing. These are just how we are speaking everyday. Doubting about any given linguistic fact is the job of linguists, not language learners. 着 can be used to express both the continuous actions and the way of doing things, which I don't find confusing. English learner in China doubt why "present" means both "gift" and "in progress" as well. 

[EnergyReaper]

I guess you mix up 最近 with 附近, although 最近 can be used to describe distance. In this usage, 最近 means nearest.

Example: Where's the nearest bank? 最近的银行在哪儿？

 

[suMMit]

*

Edited February 3, 2024 at 12:42 AM by suMMit

[mikelove]

On 2/1/2024 at 11:25 PM, suMMit said:

I thought the idea going forward was that you were going to put these questions under one single thread rather than turning this site into

I think - hope? - that that's the intent of this generic "what is the difference between the following words" thread, with the first two posts asking two different questions.

[Lu]

On 2/2/2024 at 5:25 AM, suMMit said:

I thought the idea going forward was that you were going to put these questions under one single thread

Which is exactly what this thread is. And if you are getting annoyed with all the 'what's the difference' questions, this is the thread to ignore from here on out.

[suMMit]

On 2/3/2024 at 12:01 AM, Lu said:

Which is exactly what this thread is. And if you are getting annoyed with all the 'what's the difference' questions, this is the thread to ignore from here on out.

Yes, I see, my bad. I have deleted my post.

[piano0011]

apologies guys.... I got mixed up between pangbian and zuijin..... I guess the closest should be... pangbian and jin...

 

wo de jia you yi ge shudian pangbian = wo de jia you yi ge shudian hen jin.....

 

I am not sure if the second sentence is correct but jin4 is an adjective correct? so need to add hen3 jin4?

 

2) So about kai1che1... it must be kaizheche? I should say...

 

ni kaizheche shangban ma?

ni xihuan kaizheche ma?

 

3) What is the difference between 

 

都

dōu and 

已经

yǐjīng

 

I know that dou1 has several meanings and i guess it can be used to emphasise something that has happened already?

 

wo dou chi le wan fan = i already ate dinner

wo dou he le yi be cha = i already drank a cup of tea

 

can i use yi3jing4 here or is this a formal word?

 

4) I also understand that hao3 ma = ok? and ba = suggestion...

 

women mingtian qu kan dianying hao ma = wo men mingtian qu kan dianying ba

 

Is there such thing as saying hao3 ba?

 

women mingtina qu kan dianying hao ba?

 

if you need any clarification from where i got them from, can you guys use youtube? with a vpn?

 

5) 

 

晴

qíng

 

From my understanding here, qing2 is an adjective right and I can say either:

 

jintian hen qing le  = today is sunny

jintian shi qingtian = today is a sunny day..

 

6) What is the difference between saying...

 

zher de pingguo hen hao

zhe ge pingguo hen hao

 

Do they mean plurar or singular or have the same meaning?

[cncorrect]

I would say some of sentences above in my life by this way:

 

On 2/6/2024 at 1:30 PM, piano0011 said:

wo de jia you yi ge shudian pangbian

wo de jia pangbian you ge shudian (我家旁边有个书店。) 

 

On 2/6/2024 at 1:30 PM, piano0011 said:

wo de jia you yi ge shudian hen jin

you yi ge shudian li wo jia hen jin (有个书店离我家很近。)

[cncorrect]

On 2/6/2024 at 1:30 PM, piano0011 said:

2) So about kai1che1... it must be kaizheche? I should say...

 

ni kaizheche shangban ma?

ni xihuan kaizheche ma?

'kaizheche' means 'to be driving'. 'kaiche' means 'to drive'.

 

So I would say: 

ni kaiche shangban ma?

ni xihuan kaiche ma?

[honglam]

On 2/6/2024 at 1:30 PM, piano0011 said:

wo dou chi le wan fan = i already ate dinner

wo dou he le yi be cha = i already drank a cup of tea

 

can i use yi3jing4 here or is this a formal word?

Both 都 and 已经 are okay in the given sentence, but the sense would be a little bit different. Actually as a native speaker, I'd say use even "都已经"(i.d. 我都已经吃了饭了) is okay(and is the way of speaking that at least I myself would prefer). Using 都 tend to have some undertones, while using 已经 could be merely stating a truth(yet it could have the same undertone as 都).e.g.

Dialogue 1

——A: 小张，这么晚了就别着急回去了，正好我家的饭做好了，在我家吃点再走吧（Zhang, it's so late so don't hurry up to go back. My family has cooked a meal, so come and eat some before going home.）

——B: 不了不了，我来之前已经吃过晚饭了/我来之前都吃过晚饭了（No thanks. I've already had my supper before coming）

Dialogue 2

——A: 小张，你吃过晚饭了吗？（Zhang, have you had your supper?）

——B: 嗯，我已经吃过晚饭了。（Ya, I've already had my supper.）

In dialogue 1 using 都 & 已经 means B(小张 or Zhang) was refusing to have supper at A's home, yet in a 委婉(not straightforward) way. That's just the way how Chinese are speaking everyday(some complicated cultural differences). Here it's okay using both 都 and 已经. Yet in dialogue 2 B is just asking the question. It doesn't have any undertones so we won't use 都 here and will choose 已经.

(BTW I think these difference are somehow too complicated for beginners. But I'll try my best to explain them).

On 2/6/2024 at 1:30 PM, piano0011 said:

jintian hen qing le  = today is sunny

jintian shi qingtian = today is a sunny day..

Do not use 了 in the first sentence. I think "[Noun] 很 [Adjective] 了" is not acceptable. By saying 今天很晴, you're describing a state. 了 is seldom used when you're describing a state (if not never). Kill that 了, and your understand of the two sentence is generally okay.

On 2/6/2024 at 1:30 PM, piano0011 said:

zher de pingguo hen hao

zhe ge pingguo hen hao

Completely different. 这儿(zher) is a oral way to say 这里. Hence 这儿的苹果很好 means "the apples here are good"(literally "the apples of here are good."). 这个(zhe ge/zhei ge) means “this one”(这 means this, 个 is a classifier and if we don't add a number between 这 and 个, the number should be one, otherwise we would say 这三个苹果很好 these three apples are good.)

[piano0011]

appreciate the examples given above, so if i were to say:

 

wo dou chi le = wo yijing chi le

 

here, dou1 can literally mean already have eaten?

 

2) I think I understand the difference between kaiche and kaizheche now...... but how about zou3lu4 and zou3zhe? zou3zhe means walking but can i say...

 

ni xihuan zouzhe ma? or should it be.... ni xihuan zoulu ma?

wo yao zouzhe or ...wo yao zoulu

 

3) shuohua de nage ren shi wang laoshi = that person who is talking is teacher Wang...

 

what is the rule here? can i say.... nage ren de shuohua shi wang laoshi?

 

4) Can i say.. wo yao kankan yixia = i want to look briefly? or should it be.. wo yao kan yixia? can i also say... wo yao yixia kan kan?

Some examples i have seen put yixia infront of the sentence but i thought that yi2xia4 should always be put last?

 

Should i say..... wo lei le, xiang xiuxi yixia

 

or

 

wo lei le, xiang yixia xiuxi

 

5) ling2dian3 = midnight? as in 12 am? 

零点

língdiǎn

 

6) 

早点

zǎodiǎn

 

Does zao3dian3 mean breakfast? another word for breakfast is zao3fan4 and zao3can1?

[Lu]

On 2/14/2024 at 1:21 AM, piano0011 said:

but how about zou3lu4 and zou3zhe? zou3zhe means walking

Note that there is a difference between these two uses of 'walking':

1) I like walking. Walking is good for your health.

2) She was walking to school when her phone rang.

In 1), 'walking' means 'the activity of walking'. In Chinese, 走路.

In 2), 'walking' means 'to be in the process of walking at this very moment'. In Chinese, 走着路.

 

More in general, you usually can't just match an English word to a Chinese word and then use them the same way. You have to really learn & understand what the Chinese word or particle does, what its function is. And then you can think which English word does the same thing, that's fine, but it's usually not a one-to-one match.

[honglam]

On 2/14/2024 at 8:21 AM, piano0011 said:

here, dou1 can literally mean already have eaten?

 

It's okay to say that for a beginner.

On 2/14/2024 at 8:21 AM, piano0011 said:

but how about zou3lu4 and zou3zhe? zou3zhe means walking but can i say...

Well, if you really want to put "走着" into an English noun, that should be "being walking", not merely walking. So "*你喜欢走着吗" sounds like "Do you like being walking?“.

Besides, as Lu mentioned above, don't match English words to Chinese words. That's not the right way for learning any language. Maybe it works when learning some European languages, but that's because there are great similarities between. As for Chinese and English, they are quite different.

On 2/14/2024 at 8:21 AM, piano0011 said:

can i say.... nage ren de shuohua shi wang laoshi?

No. Put relative clause before the noun, not after. That's the same problem. I'm not sure when should this grammar point be taught, but don't mimic English.

On 2/14/2024 at 8:21 AM, piano0011 said:

4) Can i say.. wo yao kankan yixia = i want to look briefly? or should it be.. wo yao kan yixia? can i also say... wo yao yixia kan kan?

Some examples i have seen put yixia infront of the sentence but i thought that yi2xia4 should always be put last?

 

Should i say..... wo lei le, xiang xiuxi yixia

 

or

 

wo lei le, xiang yixia xiuxi

I don't know why you have such problem, since the lecturer, I guess, won't represent grammatically wrong sentence in the lecture.

我累了，想休息一下 is okay. 一下 won't be put before the verb I'd say.

And, if you doubled the verb 看, you'd not use 一下 at the same time. This(verb aspect) is a very complicated area even for specialists. To put it simple, "看看" literally means to 看 for several times, and ”一下“ means once. These two expression are in conflict.

On 2/14/2024 at 8:21 AM, piano0011 said:

5) ling2dian3 = midnight? as in 12 am? 

零点

língdiǎn

Well, when expressing time, 点 = o'clock. Thus 零点/0点 means 0 o'clock, which is the same thing as midnight.

BTW in mathematics 零点 have the meaning of the zero point of a function as well.

On 2/14/2024 at 8:21 AM, piano0011 said:

早点

zǎodiǎn

 

Does zao3dian3 mean breakfast? another word for breakfast is zao3fan4 and zao3can1?

Correct.

[piano0011]

I am still confused because even though the youtube lessons are great but that's why I am here to enhance my learning...

 

should i say..

 

wo yao zoulu = i like to walk

wo xianzai zouzhe= i am walking

 

whenever, I am adding the particle zhe, does it have to be followed by xian4zai4? wo xianzai zouzhe? wo xianzai zuozhe etc?

 

2) Also, which of the following is correct?

wo yao wen yi xia laoshi

 

or

 

wo yao wen laoshi yi xia

 

3) what is the meaning of:

 

jintian you dianhua zhao ni? this doesn't make sense does it? would you translate it as, is there anyone calling you

 

4) also i tend to hear people say: hong2 de = red one such as

 

hong de pingguo = red apple? shouldn't it be.. hongse de pingguo? does hong de = hongse de?

 

5) What is the meaning of reduplication of adjective? why would you say things like... chang chang de, bai bai de, dada de etc?

gege bi mei mei dada de

wo you yi zhi xiao mao mao changchang de, bai bai de hen piaoliang