肥猫Feimao Posted November 24, 2009 at 03:05 PM Report Share Posted November 24, 2009 at 03:05 PM Could somebody help me to understand the difference between those sentences? 使人惊讶 ／ 令人惊讶 ／ 让人惊讶 Are they all possible? Is their meaning the same? what is the difference in use between 使－谁－怎么样，令－谁－怎么样 and 让－谁－怎么样？Is there an other way of saying this? Thanks a lot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrix Posted November 25, 2009 at 03:24 AM Report Share Posted November 25, 2009 at 03:24 AM don't forget 叫 There are subtle differences, but for all intents and purposes you can treat them as the same, with some differences in register, 令 being more formal and 让, 叫 being more colloquial... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted November 25, 2009 at 11:49 AM Report Share Posted November 25, 2009 at 11:49 AM For me they are interchangeable. I would also use 教人驚訝 (in writing) when I feel like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HashiriKata Posted November 25, 2009 at 12:04 PM Report Share Posted November 25, 2009 at 12:04 PM I would also use 教人驚訝 (in writing) when I feel like it. I agree. 教人驚訝 reminds me of a sentence: 深深的一段情教我思念到如今 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted November 25, 2009 at 12:11 PM Report Share Posted November 25, 2009 at 12:11 PM how romantic ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrix Posted November 25, 2009 at 12:22 PM Report Share Posted November 25, 2009 at 12:22 PM 教 is a spelling variant of 叫 when used as a causative verb. But written either way, jiào belongs to the colloquial register. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HashiriKata Posted November 25, 2009 at 01:26 PM Report Share Posted November 25, 2009 at 01:26 PM how romantic ... This reminds me of another sentence: 我是一个痴心难改的! 教 is a spelling variant of 叫 when used as a causative verb. I'm not sure about this. One is pronounced as jiao1 while the other jiao4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrix Posted November 25, 2009 at 01:29 PM Report Share Posted November 25, 2009 at 01:29 PM I'm not sure about this. One is pronounced as jiao1 while the other jiao4. Are you sure? All the dictionaries I checked have jiào. Of course there might be deviation from the standard, what with 教 being a 破音字 and so on, but it seems to me that the standard prescribes jiào. EDIT: Historically speaking, 叫 might be the spelling variant here. But I don't know any details about the linguistic history of these causative verbs, so this would be mere speculation, but that's one way of how jiantizi came into being - use a simpler character to write a more difficult one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HashiriKata Posted November 25, 2009 at 01:39 PM Report Share Posted November 25, 2009 at 01:39 PM Are you sure? All the dictionaries I checked have jiào. No, I'm not sure . I think you're right and I may have mixed this up with 教 in the sense of "teach". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
肥猫Feimao Posted November 25, 2009 at 10:15 PM Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2009 at 10:15 PM Thanks to everybody for your answers , I think I've got it now, but the reminder that 叫／教 (it would be great if somebody could find out what is the "normative" character to use with jiào for this meaning) could be used as well brought me back to my first year of chinese, when I learned that in passive sentences 叫 and 让 could be used as well as 被. When contrasting this with what has been commented here, the following problem arises: If "he surprises people" is 他使人惊讶／他令人惊讶／他让人惊讶／他叫/教人惊讶, then... "he is surprised by a person" is... 他被人惊讶／他让人惊讶／他叫人惊讶?? In other words, how does one know whether 他叫人惊讶 and 他让人惊讶 mean "he surprises people" or "he is surprised by a person" ? 多谢！ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrix Posted November 26, 2009 at 02:32 AM Report Share Posted November 26, 2009 at 02:32 AM it would be great if somebody could find out what is the "normative" character to use with jiào for this meaning very easy: they both are. Yes, one of the differences in usage is that 让 and 叫/教 (also 给) can be used in a passive construction instead of 被. In the case of 惊讶 it's quite clear: this word is usually used intransitively, and thus the passive interpretation wouldn't work. But since 让 and 叫/教 can be used in both causative and passive constructions, there are cases where this can be potentially ambiguous, but that's the beauty of language... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
semantic nuance Posted November 26, 2009 at 02:56 AM Report Share Posted November 26, 2009 at 02:56 AM (edited) This reminds me of another sentence: 我是一个痴心难改的! I'd say: 我是一個癡情漢. Or, 我就是痴心難改. then..."he is surprised by a person" is... 他被人惊讶／他让人惊讶／他叫人惊讶?? Try: If he is surprised in the sense of being scared/not expecting, then, 他受到驚嚇.(He's surprised (by someone)) 他被Peter 嚇到. (He's surprised/scared by Peter.) If he is surprised in the sense of feeling amazement or wonder, then, use 驚喜/ 驚奇/ 驚豔/ 驚訝 according to the contexts. Edited November 26, 2009 at 03:14 AM by semantic nuance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lim_zhao Posted December 10, 2009 at 04:25 AM Report Share Posted December 10, 2009 at 04:25 AM "使人惊讶 ／ 令人惊讶 ／ 让人惊讶", Actually, they are same when we say" To sb's surprised". However, when we say". And we always say‘令人惊讶 ’ in oral chinese. For example, 令人惊讶的是他通过了考试。To our surprise,It means‘To our surprise,he passed the examination“。 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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