"This dictionary is useless," Steven slammed shut the heavy tome and fought an atavistic urge to throw his chair through the nearest window. "How can all these words mean the same thing?""That's what you get for trusting Cihai," Bill replied. He was the more fastidious of the pair, but there was still an edge of annoyance to his voice. "I believe they eliminated some definitions when they simplified the language. I told you to buy the latest version of the Xinhua dictionary so we wouldn't have this problem." His pencil was wavering back and forth between 一刹那 and 一下子 when the sound of smashing glass interrupted their study session for good.HSK Tip #6834: to excel at the HSK you need to know the differences in usage between words with similar definitions.
Barnaby
said on February 8, 2009
In Q15., why is (b)忠实 wrong?
Echo
said on February 10, 2009
@barnaby.low,
When we use 忠实, we have to know what the person is 忠实 about.
Examples:
他是这个节目的忠实听众。
我是你的忠实粉丝。
Can't just say 他是一个忠实的人。
--Echo
echo@popupchinese.com
wohuilaile
said on April 5, 2009
请问“my homepage” 是在哪里的呢？我不懂。
trevelyan
said on April 5, 2009
@wohuilaile - once you've signed in, your home page is the front page. It will automatically customize itself to display only the lessons to which you are subscribed.
You can change your display options (select or de-select the shows that will appear on it) by visiting your profile page:
http://popupchinese.com/users/profile
There is also a "bookmark this lesson" button that will display in the right-hand column of any lesson or test. Clicking on that button will add the lesson to your home page as well.
wohuilaile
said on April 6, 2009
Thank you,Trevelyan :)
trevelyan
said on April 6, 2009
@wohuilaile - no worries. enjoy the site :)
shenme-ne
said on September 29, 2009
So.....
What IS the difference between:
一阵子, 一会儿, 一刹那 and 一下子? Despite my best efforts to find out myself, all my dictionaries say "a short space of time" for each one!!
And while we're at it, 中间跟之间 - 这两个词的区别在哪儿？
orbital
said on September 30, 2009
@shenme-ne, 一会儿 is definitely a lot longer than any of the others. It can mean a couple of hours easily, as in 我一会儿回来. 一刹那 is a lot shorter. It means something more like "the blink of an eye".
I'm not sure exactly how long 一阵子 and 一下子 are compared to the rest. I went with 一刹那 and got that one wrong too.
Gail天堂的声音
said on September 30, 2009
@shenme-ne, @orbital,一阵子 a period of time-他走了一阵子了。he has left for some time. (it can be a few hours, some days, even months)一会儿 a short period of time- 我一会儿就来。（here, 一会儿emphasizes the time will not be long)一刹那 a blink of an eye-一刹那的工夫，他就不见了。-he disappeared in a blink of an eye.一下子suddenly, all at once 他一下子就答对了。he got the right answer immediately.
shenme-ne
said on October 1, 2009
@GailThanks very much, brilliant explanation. Thanks for introducing me to 工夫 as "time period" too! :-)@Gail, @EchoThe one thing I haven't come across in these HSK tests when it comes to "words with similar usages" is 同样 and 一样 I have a sneaky suspicion that this might rear it's ugly head one day! Would you be able to explain what the difference is please?
