7 Major Differences between English and Chinese

There are some important differences between English and Chinese. It is important to be aware of these major differences between the two languages to reduce the number of mistakes you make in Chinese and make your Chinese better and more fluent. This article discusses 7 of the major differences between English and Chinese.

1. The Appearance – Written Words

The most apparent difference is, no surprise, the written appearance of the language. → Chinese uses characters, which cannot be sounded out, while English words use the alphabet, which allows the speaker to sound out the word because it is a phonetic language. Luckily, for language learners, Pinyin helps by providing a phonetic representation of Chinese characters. Pinyin uses romanized letters, but the sound associated with each is unique to Pinyin. While that may seem like a huge disadvantage, there is another aspect that must be considered. Chinese characters are, in some ways, like a picture. There are elements, called radicals, that hold meaning. So while you can’t sound the character out, you can pull meaning from the character.

If you know that 目(mù) means eye， 水(shuǐ) means water and that 氵is another form of 水 (shuǐ), then it’s easy to figure out that 泪(lèi) indicates water of the eyes or tears.

Please note that some character components do have sound attached to them. After getting really comfortable with Chinese, you may be able to guess the sound of a character based on the components – but this isn’t a fool-proof way of reading Chinese.

Related Posts: A Comprehensive Guide to Chinese Characters

2. Tones

You have probably seen Pinyin before and noticed some lines above a few of the letters. Those are the tones. There are 4 basic tones in Chinese.

Tones are a very unique concept for most of the English speakers. We need to pay attention to them when both listening and speaking!

If you pronounce the same syllable in different tones, the corresponding meanings vary vastly. In English, the intonation indicates emotion, but in Chinese, intonation indicates meaning. Here are some examples of tones and definitions.

/shui jiao/
睡觉 / shuì jiào/ sleep
水饺 / shuǐ jiǎo/ dumplings

我可以问(wèn)你吗？vs 我可以吻(wěn)你吗？
May I ask you? vs May I kiss you?

3. Sentence Length

English emphasizes the structure of sentences, while Chinese focuses on the meaning.

In English, it is very common to see one long sentence with long modifiers including pronouns like “we”, “she”, and “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 extremely difficult to understand. Therefore, in Chinese, we can only find short sentences or long sentences divided into short phrases separated by commas.

To conclude, we can say: English sentences are usually long, and Chinese sentences are usually short. When learning Chinese, you should “Get the meaning, forget the words”. Let’s look at some examples here:

The sights of Beijing are so numerous that you can spend several weeks here and leave without having seen all of the important ones.
北京的名胜很多，一个人就是在这儿呆上几个星期，离开时也没能把主要的景点看完。
(Běijīng de míngshèng hěn duō，yī gè rén jiù shì zài zhèr dāi shàng jǐ gè xīngqī，líkāi shí yě méi néng bǎ zhǔyào de jǐngdiǎn kàn wán.)

The Great Wall traverses plains and mountains, being 1,300 meters above sea level at some points. The wall averages 7.8 meters in height and 5.8 meters in width at the top.
长城跨越平原高山，在某些地方海拔1,300米，平均高7.8米，顶宽5.8米。
(Chángchéng kuà yuè píngyuán gāoshān，zài mǒuxiē dìfāng hǎibá 1,300mǐ，píngjūn gāo 7.8mǐ，dǐng kuān 5.8mǐ.)

The computer program is completely in computing mode and will only do computing tasks.
现在，程序的显示区完全处于这种工具的模态中。
(Xiànzài，chéngxù de xiǎnshìqū wánquán chùyú zhèzhǒng gōngjù de mótài zhōng.)

4. Passive & Active Voice

In English, the passive voice is very commonly used. Unlike English, Chinese usually uses an active voice.

There are ways to show the passive tense in Chinese, and there are more specific words you would use to show that. So let’s take a look at some examples of the active voice in Chinese that translates to the English passive voice:

Tea is drunk widely all over the world.
世界各地人们都喝茶。
(Shìjiè gèdì rénmen dōu hē chá.)

But sometimes the tables were laid outside in the gardens of stately homes.
但有时也把餐桌摆到豪门大宅的花园里。
(Dàn yǒushí yě bǎ cānzhuō bǎi dào háoméndàzhái de huāyuán lǐ.)

Parties are held when the weather is nice.
天公作美时可以看到寻常百姓家的野餐。
(Tiāngōngzuóměi shí kěyǐ kàndào xúncháng bǎixìng jiā de yěcān.)

Bananas are widely believed to grow on trees.
普遍认为香蕉是结在树上的果实。
(Pǔbiàn rènwéi xiāngjiāo shì jié zài shù shàng de guǒshí.)

• It must be pointed out that… 必须指出……（bì xū zhǐ chū）
• It must be admitted that… 必须承认……（bì xū chéng rèn）
• It is imagined that… 人们认为……（rén men rèn wéi）
• It can not be denied that… 不可否认……（bú kě fǒu rèn）

Related Posts: Basic Chinese Sentences Structures

5. The use of Idioms

In Chinese, idioms and short four-character expressions are very widely used to make the language more vivid, live, and concise.

English is not so rich in this kind of short idioms and expressions. In English, idioms are used scarcely because they tend to be more specific and direct. Here are some to read and compare:

Sincere Buddhists take vows of celibacy and abstinence from meat and wine, wearing no fur or woolen garments and shaving their heads.
虔诚的僧人立誓禁欲，不沾酒肉，不着皮毛，削发修行。
(Qiánchéng de sēngrén lìshì jìnyù，bú zhān jiǔròu，bú zhuó pímáo，xuēfà xiūxíng.)

China is a vast country.
中国地域辽阔。
(Zhōngguó dìyù liáokuò.)

He always looks very funny.
他的样子总是滑稽可笑。
(Tā de yàngzi zǒng shì huájīkěxiào.)

In retrospect, the past 100 years of human existence have been extremely fantastic, and extremely frightening as well.
回首过去一百年,人类世界可说精彩绝伦,但也惊心动魄。
(Huíshǒu guòqù yībǎi nián, rénlèi shìjiè kě shuō jīngcǎijuélún, dàn yě jīngxīndòngpò.)

6. Abstract vs Concrete

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 expressed in Chinese with concrete objects from the natural world. Here are numerous examples of how this looks and what the Chinese literally means in English:

• Disintegration 土崩瓦解 （tǔ bēng wǎ jiě）
  Lit. Landslides and tiles disintegrate
• Total exhaustion 筋疲力尽 （jīn pí lì jìn）
  Lit. The muscles are weary and the strength has been used up
• Careful consideration 深思熟虑（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 画饼充饥（huà bǐng chōng jī）
  Lit. To allay one’s hunger using a picture of a cake
• With great eagerness 如饥似渴（rú jī sì kě）
  Lit. Like hunger as thirst
• Lack of perseverance 三天打鱼，两天晒网（sān tiān dǎ yú ，liǎng tiān shài wǎng）
  Lit. Spent three days fishing and two days drying nets
• Make a little contribution 添砖加瓦（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.

7. Emphasis

English puts more emphasis on the first part of the sentence while Chinese puts the emphasis on the last part of the sentence.

This characteristic is especially apparent in sentences that include logic with drawing conclusions or expressing 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, and then the results, conclusions, etc. For example:

I was most delighted when it proved possible to reinstate the visit so quickly as a result of the initiative of your Government.
由于贵国政府的提议，才得以这样快地重新实现访问。这使我感到特别高兴。
(Yóuyú guì guó zhèngfǔ de tíyì ，cái déyǐ zhèyàng kuài de chóngxīn shíxiàn fǎngwèn. Zhè shǐ wǒ gǎndào tèbié gāoxìng.)

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.
如果一个民族不能自由地决定其政治地位，不能自由地保证其经济、社会和文化的发展，要享受其基本权利，即使不是不可能，也是不容易的。这一论断几乎是无可置辩的了。
(Rúguǒ yī gè mínzú bù néng zìyóu de juédìng qí zhèngzhì dìwèi ，bù néng zìyóu de bǎozhèng qí jīngjì 、shèhuì hé wénhuà de fāzhǎn ，yào xiǎngshòu qí jīběn quánlì ，jíshǐ bú shì bù kěnéng ，yě shì bù róngyì de. Zhè yī lùnduàn jīhū shì wúkězhìbiàn de le.)

Conclusion

From the above 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 grammar, and prefer to use simple and short sentences. English sentences tend to be longer because they need to be specific. In addition, Chinese also doesn’t omit repeated words in order to make sure that the listener or reader will not misunderstand the meaning of the sentence.

In my eyes, this is an example of how culture and philosophy may influence a language since Chinese philosophy and thinking are very pragmatic. English, on the other hand, has a variety of cultures and philosophies where it becomes necessary to elongate the way things are expressed. The other method the Chinese language uses to make expressions the most accurate is using idioms. Idioms are an integral part of Chinese culture and wisdom since almost each of them is a conclusion of a traditional Chinese legend and expresses a sort of insight. 

If you’re interested in learning more about the basics of the Chinese language, you might find this resource helpful: Chinese for Beginners.

I hope you learned a lot about the differences between the two languages and understand how to start comprehending the Chinese language.