Difference between revisions of "Comparing "nianqing" and "nianqing""

Revision as of 07:46, 9 September 2021

年轻 and 年青 are adjectives that are used in informal and formal settings. They are similar in fact that both mean young (age 10 to 20) and have the exact same pronunciation. In many circumstances, they can be used interchangeably when they describe someone in this age period. Yet, they have differences, foremost only 年轻 can be used in age comparisons that show someone is “younger” than someone else (not restricted to between 10 and 20, no matter what age is ok). Secondly, only 年轻 can be used to show that something, i.e., a planet, a branch of study, etc. is “young.”

	年轻 (niánqīng)	年青 (niánqīng)
Meaning	young, younger	young
Part of Speech	adjective	adjective
Formality	flexible	flexible

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-年轻 and 年青 both are adjectives that mean beautiful. 美丽 is used in formal settings, whereas 漂亮 is used in informal settings. While both words can be used interchangeably to praise a woman or girl’s physical appearance, when used as such they portray different meaning (美丽 meaning elegant vs. 漂亮 meaning pretty or good-looking). A key difference between these two is 美丽 is often used to describe abstract thoughts or ideas (a story, a legend, etc.), whereas 漂亮 is often used to describe concrete actions or movements (in sports, a performance, a speech, etc.).
+年轻 and 年青 are adjectives that are used in informal and formal settings. They are similar in fact that both mean young (age 10 to 20) and have the exact same pronunciation. In many circumstances, they can be used interchangeably when they describe someone in this age period. Yet, they have differences, foremost only 年轻 can be used in age comparisons that show someone is “younger” than someone else (not restricted to between 10 and 20, no matter what age is ok). Secondly, only 年轻 can be used to show that something, i.e., a planet, a branch of study, etc. is “young.”
 <table class="table table-bordered table-striped">
 <tr>
 <th style="width:24%"> </th>
-<th style="width:33%">美丽 (měilì)</th>
+<th style="width:33%">年轻 (niánqīng)</th>
-<th style="width:33%">漂亮 (piàoliang)</th>
+<th style="width:33%">年青 (niánqīng)</th>
 </tr>
 <tr>
-<th>Meaning</th><td>beautiful, elegant</td><td class="liju">beautiful, pretty, good-looking</td>
+<th>Meaning</th><td>young, younger</td><td class="liju">young</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 </tr>
 <tr>
-<th>Formality</th><td>formal</td><td class="liju">informal</td>
+<th>Formality</th><td>flexible</td><td class="liju">flexible</td>
 </tr>
 </table>