Distinguishing word

Also known as: 区别词, distinguishing words and attributive adjectives.

"Distinguishing words" are rather foreign to the English speaker. They are called 区别词 (qūbiécí) in Mandarin--literally, "distinguish words." Why bother with this new class at all? Well, on the surface they seem like regular adjectives, but distinguishing words have certain limitations that normal adjectives do not have. So if you're not aware that some words are "special," you'll likely have difficulty making natural sentences, and you won't know why. It really all does seem a bit random and arbitrary until you get an overview of what distinguishing words are and what the most common examples of them are.