Sophie Song

Chinese have so many synonyms. And synonyms are difficult to foreign students.

For example:

“美丽”, “漂亮”

1. As adjectives, the two words both indicate good-looking, but are different in usage. when a woman is referred to, both “美丽” and “漂亮” can be used, but when a man is referred to, only “漂亮” is used.

几年不见，他长成了一个漂亮的小伙子。

2. When a thing is referred to, “美丽” is mostly used for something abstract while “漂亮” for some thing concrete.

美丽的传说  美丽的心灵  美丽的幻想

我买了一件漂亮的衣服。 盖了一幢漂亮的大楼。

3. “漂亮” can also be used figuratively to indicate “brilliant” or  “excellent ” or “wonderful”.

这件事干的真漂亮。这个球踢得真漂亮。

4. “漂亮” can be used in germination like “漂漂亮亮” but “美丽” can not

5. “美丽”is mostly used in writings while “漂亮” in spoken language.

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