1700 Groups of Frequently Used Chinese Synonyms

A foreign student asked me one day what was the difference between "扶" and "搀". I answered him after I thought for a while that the object of "扶" could be either a person or a thing. For example, "我扶奶奶过马路" or "护士扶着病人走路", and we could also say "他扶着墙走路" or "我把那棵被风刮倒的小树扶了起来". But it is wrong to say "他搀着墙走路" or "我把那棵被风刮倒的小树搀了起来".

Since I was often asked by my students questions similar to the above one during the past years of my teaching, I paid special attention to analyzing the similarities and differences between synonyms and near synonyms in order to help them.

This book was being written while I was teaching and doing research. 1718 pairs (among which there are 80 groups of 3 words) of commonly used Chinese words and expressions that foreign students often misused were selected in the book, such as “爱——热爱”，“办法——方法”，“参观——访问”，“常常——往往”，“从——离”，“向——对”，“点钟——小时”，“搞——弄”，“过——了”， “忽然——突然”，“会——能”，“正、在——正在”，“就——才”，“再——又”，“立刻——马上”，“看——看见”，“认为——以为”，“一切——所 有”，“为——为了”，“学习——学”，“一下儿——一下子”，“怎么——怎样”，“祝——祝贺”，“终于——到底”，“不得了——了不得”，“想出来 ——想起来”and“只好——不得不”etc．

The Chinese people do not have problem with these words and expressions. But foreigners are often confused and frustrated by them, just like what it is said in an ancient Chinese poem, "The hills and streams have no end, there seem to be no road beyond".

Only after they understand the similarities and differences between these words and expressions do they see a road ahead, "Dim with willows, bright with flowers, another village appears."

This is a reference book for foreign students who learn Chinese as a foreign language. It can also be used as a reference book by teachers who teach Chinese as a foreign language.

It is not the author's goal to make this book an academic accomplishment. It is hoped that this book serves as a useful tool to students and teachers of Chinese as a foreign language and can solve their problems in their learning and teaching effectively.