Comment by Brandon on March 27, 2011 at 3:47pm

Great and well explained - examples are really useful.  

Thanks for posting this!

Comment by DK 大牛 on March 27, 2011 at 3:49pm

Does 学 mean "to learn"? I've always understood it as "to study"...

Comment by Brandon on March 27, 2011 at 4:47pm

I think it means both "study" and "learn" - (dianhuadictionary entry 学) although I'm not sure how to tell the difference in a sentence that uses 学 without a clear context...?

 

Comment by The Mandarin Review on April 9, 2011 at 6:54am

学xué means both " to study" and " to learn". There is another word "学习xuéxí" more like " study and to study ". 

When both words mean "to study" or "to learn".学习xuéxí can be used both transitively and intransitively, 学xué is normally reserved for transitive use.

For example:

1, 我学（习）中文，他学（习）英文。

    wǒxué(xí) zhōngwén, tā xué (xí) yīngwén.

    I study/learn Chinese, he studies / learn English.

2, 今天我要学习。

    jīn tiān wǒ yào xuéxí.

    Today I need to study.
3,  我的学习不好。

    wǒ de xué xí bù hǎo.

 Lit: My study is not good. / I am not doing good in school.

Comment by DK 大牛 on April 9, 2011 at 9:04am

But in English, "study" and "learn" have different meanings... is there a way to differentiate them in Chinese?

Comment by The Mandarin Review on April 9, 2011 at 11:35pm

By content.

 

In my understanding " study" and "learn" can be the same meaning sometime, when both "study " and "learn" mean " the process to acquire some knowlege ", they both will translate as " 学 xué " in Chinese.  You may say "study " can mean" do research", then their is another Chinese word for it " 研究yánjiū" , if you want "study " to be a noun , then it translate as Chinese word "学习xué xí“ .

Comment