"to stick to"

[L-F-J]

two part question:

do these all mean the same thing? "you should stick to your ideals".

你应该坚持的理想。

你应该坚守你的理想。

你应该固守你的理想。

ni3 ying1gai1 jian1chi2 ni3de li3xiang3.

ni3 ying1gai1 jian1shou3 ni3de li3xiang3.

ni3 ying1gai1 gu4shou3 ni3de li3xiang3.

part two:

how would we say "to stick to" as in: "i cant seem to get this word to stick in my head."

thanks!

[myuigone]

In general ,these three word almost mean the same thing,Especially between坚守 and 固守, there are no different at all.They mean"stick",But "坚持" has a little bit differenc.It means "keep on stick"

For example:

你应该坚持的理想,不要放弃。（correct）

你应该固守你的理想，不要放弃。（strange）

你应该坚持的理想,不要被打败。（strange）

你应该固守的理想,不要被打败。（correct）

The reason is "持"has meaning of "keep on do sth.", and "守"has meaning of "defence"

However, most time in the spoken language, you can feel free to use each one.

"i cant seem to get this word to stick in my head."

"I cant seem to memorize this word."<-（Do you mean this?）

我 似乎不能 记住 这个 词。<-(I am not very sure.)

Too many preposition is hard to translate English to Chinese.

[HashiriKata]

Just a try :

"you should stick to your ideals" =

你应该保持你的理想。

"i cant seem to get this word to stick in my head" =

我怎么也记不住这个词。

[L-F-J]

myuigone-

thank you! those are very important parts of the words. i understand the difference. 坚持 in positive continuation. 坚守 or 固守 in defensive continuation.

and yes, the other sentence was what i meant. to memorize something.

hashirikata-

good too! what about 我似乎怎么也记不住这个词。

but maybe i'm wrong, but it seems 坚持 and 保持 arent interchangeable. as in 我们应该保持联络。坚持 isnt used here, is it? dont know why though.

[HashiriKata]

what about 我似乎怎么也记不住这个词。

It's fine, but I think adding 似乎 just makes it too English-sounding for me.

but it seems 坚持 and 保持 arent interchangeable.

Exactly, that is why I use one instead of the other.

[HashiriKata]

L-F-J, I looked at your original question again and realised that you missed out one important character. With the missing character in place, your sentence should be perfect and my earlier suggestion would be then not even needed:

do these all mean the same thing? "you should stick to your ideals".

你应该坚持的理想。

=> 你应该坚持你的理想。

[semantic nuance]

我似乎怎么也记不住这个词。

I will use 我好像怎(麼)樣都記不住這個詞 or 我好像怎(麼)樣也記不住這個詞 .

Hope it helps!

[Quest]

我似乎怎么样也记不住这个词。sounds fine...

[L-F-J]

L-F-J, I looked at your original question again and realised that you missed out one important character.

oh, right. that was my mistake! i didnt even notice.

could somone explain why or when 坚持 and 保持 can/ 't be interchanged?

[HashiriKata]

could somone explain why or when 坚持 and 保持 can/ 't be interchanged?

Since there's no response yet, I'll have a go:

If you imagine the establishment/ existence of something, you can then plot 坚持 and 保持 on its time scale: 坚持 is often used when you're trying to establish something, often in the face of adversity. 保持 is often used when something is already established and you want to keep it going, but there may be fear that it may disappear. So, you 坚持 to eatablish a relationship even in face of difficulty and after it is established, you try to 保持 it because it means so much to you and/ or because you experience rough times. Sometimes, whether something is being established or already established is of no relevance (or not clear) in the context and you focus only on its existence/ continuation, then both 坚持 and 保持 are acceptable and interchangeable.

Ok, that is my attempt at the "thought frame" and some native speakers may be in a better position to fill out the flesh for you with concrete examples.

[chenpv]

Quote:

do these all mean the same thing? "you should stick to your ideals".

你应该坚持的理想。

=> 你应该坚持你的理想。

Well, IMHO, 你的 is not quite necessary here, unless one really intends to make a stress.

[Koneko]

Yes, I agree with you. I have the feeling that with 你的 the sentence becomes more specific. Without 你的 is more general.

K.

[HashiriKata]

Just in case some people didn't look closely enough:

I was pointing out that the original missed out the 你 from 你的, and not 你的 from the sentence. Without 你, it is in fact not even a sentence: 你应该坚持的理想

Got it?

[Koneko]

I was actually refering to 你应该坚持你的理想 as:-

你应该坚持你的理想 vs 你应该坚持理想。

K.

[L-F-J]

yeah, and just to add- it was only a slip of the fingers not typing ni. but its good to make typos sometimes i guess. more opportunities for examples.

hashi- i got your explanation. i guess thats why 保持 is used in 保持联络, because the relationship was already made and there's the wish to keep contact.

but did you ever hear that song 坚持到底? it sounds like a relationship is already established and this guy is telling the girl he's gonna 坚持到底 (persist to the end) and not 保持到底, which sounds kinda dumb if you sing it anyway.

[HashiriKata]

坚持到底: When I hear this, I normally assume there may be something (else) not yet achieved and he's still making the effort. I'll try listening to the song and see.

@Koneko: I got it .

EDIT: I've just litened to the song, and what follows the phrase "坚持到底" in the song seems to bear out what I said earlier: s/he's still making the effort and not taking things for granted:

四个字坚持到底

不管有多苦

我会全心全力

[HashiriKata]

I still can't sleep comfortably with my last reply yet, so here I am again!

...you can then plot 坚持 and 保持 on its time scale. 坚持 is often used when you're trying to establish something, often in the face of adversity. 保持 is often used when something is already established and you want to keep it going, but there may be fear that it may disappear. So, you 坚持 to eatablish a relationship even in face of difficulty and after it is established, you try to 保持 it because it means so much to you.

I think my original explanation is fair, but the song title "坚持到底" that L-F-J mentioned doesn't appear to settle in very easily with that frame, so hopefully the following supplement will give it a better fitting:

When you put 坚持 and 保持 on a time frame as above, they then should be mutually exclusive since one is to do with the establishment and the other with protection. However, from another angle, 坚持 is a mental attitude whereas 保持 is an act (or a series of acts), they are not of the same kind and therefore need NOT be mutually exclusive. So it is perfectly possible to talk about 坚持 (persevere) with something, not only to obtain/ establish it but also to 保持 (protect/ preserve) it. Do you think this makes better sense now for your song title, L-F-J ?

[L-F-J]

that makes total sense. especially for understanding the song title. such relationships take both mental perseverance as well as physical action to sustain it. thanks a lot!

sleep well!