Mandarin Chinese help!?

Question

Why is the same word- guó- written in these two ways when I looked it up?

国 and 國??

Is one simplified? I don't understand when to use each one-

Like in "I am English"

Can I write- 我是英国人 and 我是英國人?

Answer 1

Yes.  You are absolutely correct.  The first one is simplified, and the second one is traditional.

You can look up both traditional and simplified characters at the mdbg dictionary site:  http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.ph...

It's invaluable if you like studying Chinese.  Also, check out zhongwen.com They give you awesome information about the relationships between different characters and how they connect.

xiexie ni wen wo zheige zhen you yisi de wenti.  Thank you for such a great question!

Answer 2

Simplified: 我是英国人

Traditional: 我是英國人

Simplified is used for the majority of Mandarin writing, but Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau still use traditional.

More information about traditional characters: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional...

More information about simplified characters: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplified_...

And like imspringer said, the MDBG Chinese dictionary is invaluable to the Chinese learner: http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/

Answer 3

watch Ni Hao Ki-lan

lol

Answer 4

Simplified is used for the majority of Mandarin writing, but Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau still use traditional.

Mandarin writing? Are you kidding? People in Hong Kong & Macau speak Cantonese or other dialects, not Mandarin. So, where's your logic for this?  

Writing is universally Traditional Chinese, until 1950's when Mainland China was controlled by the Communists who argued that in order to increase literacy, it's better to simplify some of the characters by decreasing the number of strokes, which sometimes doesn't make sense, because it's used for the character's sound value, not it's meaning. Traditional Chinese is passed on from millennia of writings, first of which is used for religious purposes, then later on used for recording everything else. Chinese writing evolved since the Shang dynasty up to the present. Most Chinese in Mainland Chinese had to learn Traditional Chinese in order to really get the meaning of the characters, unless the simplified form is the same as the ancient form and has no Traditional form. I'd used Wikipedia with a grain of salt, especially as a source for anything.

Answer 5

国 is simplified & 國 is traditional .

they mean the same .. simplified chinese is easier to read and write . most people in mainland china grew up learning simplified but in hong kong, you learn traditional .  you can write 我是英国人 or 我是英國人 but only if your from england because 英國 means england .