6 Major Differences between English and Chinese
There are some basic major differences between English and Chinese. It is important to be aware of the major differences between the two languages in order to reduce your mistakes in Chinese and also to make your expression in Chinese much better and fluent. This article discusses 6 of the major differences between English and Chinese.
1. English emphasizes the structure, while Chinese focuses on the meaning.
In English, it is very common to see one long sentence with long modifier, and use of pronouns like 「we」, 「she」, 「they」 in addition to 「that」 and 「which」, to avoid recurrences. The sentence may be long and complicated, but it is still clear enough to understand. In Chinese, the situation is very different where a long sentence in Chinese would be very complicated and cannot be understood properly. Therefore, in Chinese we can only find short sentences or long sentences divided to short phrases separated by comma.
To conclude, we can say: English sentences are usually long and Chinese sentences are usually short. One should 「Get the meaning, forget the words」 in Chinese learning. Let’s look at some examples here:
A. The sights of Beijing are so numerous that one can spend several weeks here and leave without having seen all of the important ones.
北京的名勝很多，一個人就是在這兒呆上幾個星期，離開時也沒能把主要的景點看完。
（běi jīng de míng shèng hěn duō ，yī gè rén jiù shì zài zhè ér dāi shàng jǐ gè xīng qī ，lí kāi shí yě méi néng bǎ zhǔ yào de jǐng diǎn kàn wán。）
B. The Great Wall traverses plains and mountains being at some points 1,300 meters above sea level. The wall averaged 7.8 meters in height and 5.8 meters in width at the top.
長城跨越平原高山，在某些地方海拔1,300米，平均高7.8米，頂寬5.8米
（cháng chéng kuà yuè píng yuán gāo shān ，zài mǒu xiē dì fāng hǎi bá 1,300mǐ ，píng jūn gāo 7.8mǐ ，dǐng kuān 5.8mǐ。）
C. The computer program is completely in the computing mode and will only do computing tasks.
現在，程序的顯示區完全處於這種工具的模態中
（xiàn zài ，chéng xù de xiǎn shì qū wán quán chù yú zhè zhǒng gōng jù de mó tài zhōng。）
2. In English the passive voice is very commonly used. Unlike English, Chinese usually uses the active voice.
There are ways to show the passive tense in Chinese, there are more specific words you would use to show that. So let’s take a look at some examples of the Chinese active voice to translate English passive voice:
A. Tea is drunk widely all over the world.
世界各地人們都喝茶
（shì jiè gè dì rén men dōu hē chá）
B. But sometimes the tables were laid outside in the gardens of stately homes.
但有時也把餐桌擺到豪門大宅的花園裡
（dàn yǒu shí yě bǎ cān zhuō bǎi dào háo mén dà zhái de huā yuán lǐ）
C. Parties are held when the weather is nice.
天公作美時可以看到尋常百姓家的野餐
（tiān gōng zuó měi shí kě yǐ kàn dào xún cháng bǎi xìng jiā de yě cān）
D. Bananas are widely believed to grow on trees.
普遍認為香蕉是結在樹上的果實
（pǔ biàn rèn wéi xiāng jiāo shì jié zài shù shàng de guǒ shí）
It must be pointed out that… 必須指出…. （bì xū zhǐ chū）
It must be admitted that… 必須承認…. （bì xū chéng rèn）
It is imagined that… 人們認為…. （rén men rèn wéi）
It can not be denied that… 不可否認……. （bú kě fǒu rèn）
3. In Chinese, idioms and short four characters expressions are very widely used to make the expression more vivid, live and compact.
English is not so rich in this kind or short idioms and expressions. In English, idioms are used scarcely because it tends be more specific and direct. Here are some to read and compare:
A. Sincere Buddhists take vows of celibacy and abstinence from meat and wine, wearing no fur or woolen garments and shave their heads.
虔誠的僧人立誓禁慾，不沾酒肉，不着皮毛，削髮修行
（qián chéng de sēng rén lì shì jìn yù ，bú zhān jiǔ ròu ，bú zhuó pí máo ，xuē fà xiū xíng。）
B. China is a vast country.
中國地域遼闊。
(zhōng guó dì yù liáo kuò。)
C. He always looks very funny.
他的樣子總是滑稽可笑。
（tā de yàng zi zǒng shì huá jī kě xiào。）
D. In retrospect, the past 100 years of human existence have been extremely fantastic, and extremely frightening as well.
回首過去一百年,人類世界可說精彩絕倫,但也驚心動魄。
（huí shǒu guò qù yī bǎi nián ,rén lèi shì jiè kě shuō jīng cǎi jué lún ,dàn yě jīng xīn dòng pò。）
4. English widely uses abstract nouns while Chinese usually uses concrete nouns.
This comes from the Chinese philosophy which interprets the human being and his life as a microcosm within the natural macrocosm. Therefore many abstract terms are express in Chinese by concrete object from the natural world. Here are numerous examples of how this looks and what Chinese literally means in English:
Disintegration 土崩瓦解 （tǔ bēng wǎ jiě）
Lit. Land slides and tiles disintegrate
Total exhaustion 筋疲力盡 （jīn pí lì jìn）
Lit. The muscles are weary and the strength has been used up
Careful consideration 深思熟慮（shēn sī shú lǜ）
Lit. Deep thinking and careful thought
Perfect harmony 水乳交融（shuǐ rǔ jiāo róng）
Lit. Mix well like milk and water
Feed on fancies 畫餅充飢（huà bǐng chōng jī）
Lit. To allay one’s hunger using a picture of a cake
With great eagerness 如饑似渴（rú jī sì kě）
Lit. Like hunger as thirst
Lack of perseverance 三天打魚，兩天曬網（sān tiān dǎ yú ，liǎng tiān shài wǎng）
Lit. Spent three days fishing and two days drying nets
Make a little contribution 添磚加瓦（tiān zhuān jiā wǎ）
Lit. Contribute bricks and tiles for a building
On the verge of destruction 危在旦夕（wēi zài dàn xī）
Lit. The crisis is in the coming daybreak or in the coming dusk.
5. In English words often being omitted to avoid recurrences and to make the sentence shorter and simpler. In Chinese, in contrast, words are generally not being omitted and instead may be repeated.
It is repeated in order to give the listener or reader clarity of what is being stated. Chinese has a lot of the similar sounding words and therefore need to distinguish the words by repeating the words in a specific sentence frame. Let’s look at some examples:
1. Ambition is the mother of destruction as well as of evil.
野心不僅是罪惡的根源，同時也是毀滅的根源
(yě xīn bù jǐn shì zuì è de gēn yuán ，tóng shí yě shì huǐ miè de gēn yuán)
2. Reading exercises one」s eyes; Speaking, one」s tongue; while writing, one’s mind
閱讀訓練人的眼睛，說話訓練人的口齒，寫作訓練人的思維
(yuè dú xùn liàn rén de yǎn jīng ，shuō huà xùn liàn rén de kǒu chǐ ，xiě zuò xùn liàn rén de sī wéi)
3. One boy is a boy, two boys half a boy, three boys no boy
一個和尚挑水喝，兩個和尚抬水喝，三個和尚沒水喝
(yī gè hé shàng tiāo shuǐ hē ，liǎng gè hé shàng tái shuǐ hē ，sān gè hé shàng méi shuǐ hē)
6. English puts more emphasis on the first part of the sentence while Chinese put the emphasis on the last part of the sentence.
This characteristic is especially apparent in sentences, which include logic with drawing conclusions or expression of results. In English, the conclusion is described first and the facts are described at the end of the sentence. In Chinese it is the opposite. First, the facts will be described then the results, conclusions, and etc. For example:
A. I was all the most delighted when it proved possible to reinstate the visit so quickly as a result of the initiative of your Government.
由於貴國政府的提議，才得以這樣快地重新實現訪問。這使我感到特別高興
（yóu yú guì guó zhèng fǔ de tí yì ，cái dé yǐ zhè yàng kuài de chóng xīn shí xiàn fǎng wèn 。zhè shǐ wǒ gǎn dào tè bié gāo xìng。）
B. His assertion that 「it was difficult, if not impossible, for a people to enjoy its basic rights unless it was able to determine freely its political status and to ensure freely its economic, social and cultural development」 was now scarcely contested.
如果一個民族不能自由地決定其政治地位，不能自由地保證其經濟、社會和文化的發展，要享受其基本權利，即使不是不可能，也是不容易的。這一論斷幾乎是無可置辯的了
（rú guǒ yī gè mín zú bù néng zì yóu de jué dìng qí zhèng zhì dì wèi ，bù néng zì yóu de bǎo zhèng qí jīng jì 、shè huì hé wén huà de fā zhǎn ，yào xiǎng shòu qí jī běn quán lì ，jí shǐ bú shì bù kě néng ，yě shì bù róng yì de 。zhè yī lùn duàn jī hū shì wú kě zhì biàn de le。）
Conclusion
From the above six points we can clearly see an interesting point that Chinese emphasizes short and clear expressions so that the listener (or reader) will easily get the accurate meaning of the idea expressed. For this aim, Chinese 「gives up」 long and complicated sentences which are based on language grammar, and prefer to use simple and short sentences. English sentences tend to be longer because since it needs to be specific. In addition, the Chinese also doesn’t omit repeated words in order to make sure that the listener (reader) will not misunderstand the meaning of the sentence.
In my eyes, this is an example of how the culture and philosophy may influence the language, since the Chinese philosophy and thinking is very pragmatic. English on the other hand, has a variety of cultures and philosophies where it has a need to be elongated in way things are express. The other method the Chinese language uses to make the expressions the most accurate is using idioms. The idioms are an integral part of the Chinese culture and wisdom since almost each of them is a conclusion of a traditional Chinese legend and expresses a sort of an insight. I hope you learned a lot about the differences between the two languages, and understand how to start comprehending the Chinese language.
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