Jump to content
Chinese-Forums
  • Sign Up

How can I use these words?


ankong

Recommended Posts

Examples -

糟糕!! 我的錢包丟了!!

這事件損害了股東的利益,董事會深感抱歉和遺憾.

我怎麼總是碰到這樣的男/女人!! 真是了十八輩子的!!

歌手梅艷芳這麼年輕就因病不幸去世,十分可惜.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

糟糕 -- mess up

糟糕!我的钱包丢了。

Sh*t(I [am] messed up)! I lost my wallet.

他把事情弄糟(糕)了!

He messed up the thing/matter.

遗憾 -- regret

我们很遗憾大会没开成。

We regret that the meeting was not held.

倒霉 -- very bad luck!

他今天真倒霉,把钱包给丢了。

He has very bad luck today, (because) he lost his wallet.

可惜 -- "too bad"/regrettable

可惜相爱的人总是不能相近。

It is too bad that lovers never get to be together.

不幸 -- unfortunate

真不幸,她这么年青就去世了。

It was very unfortunate that she died young.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would say that 遺憾 is much more formal than 可惜. The difference is about that between "it is regrettable" and "it is a pity".

As to 倒霉 and 糟糕, I would say the former is used on bad things that happen to a person, whereas the latter can also be used on bad things that are caused by oneself.

I can use these terms and I know the differences. But I don't think I've explained them well. Sorry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They have similar meanings. However, 可惜 is often used to describe things that are valuable but somehow lost or unachievable. 遗憾 describes something that was supposed to happen, but did not. 倒霉 is used more to describe a person. 糟糕 is usually for things and events, but sometimes for persons, too. Their main difference is that 糟糕 indicates something bad is caused by someone or something (messed up by) and 倒霉 is just an adjective to say a person is unlucky.

Skylee is right, they these words are not interchangeable, but it's hard to explain to you their differences.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmm, it's hard to get the idea across in formal definitions. I guess you just have to see these words used in different situations again and again to be able to differentiate their subtle differences. A good way to do it would be to search for each word on google and read the paragraphs containing these words.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok I will give it one more shot to help you differentiate them.

遗憾 is one's own feeling -- You regret that you did not do something you should have done. 我很遗憾我没有帮上忙。I regret/am sorry (my internal feeling) that I have not been much help.

可惜 is an evaluation on another thing/event/person that one has sympathy for. So it decribes something/someone other than one's self. 我的新手机不见了,真可惜。Too bad I've lost my new cellphone. 可惜 modifies the event -- lost cellphone, not "I" the person. In the previous example 遗憾 modifies the person "I".

倒霉- a resentment of bad luck. it has to do with luck. The keyword is luck. 我碰上你真倒霉。It's really bad luck that I meet you.

糟糕- just something bad happened or messed up; something that you should have a considerable control on. luck has no role here. 糟糕,我把手机弄坏了。So messed up, I've broken my cell phone.

不幸 is a more serious word to describe bad luck/unfortunate. Usually used for something big like deaths, heavy losses and disasters.

倒霉 is often used for trivial things. Losing a life is 不幸, losing a cellphone is 倒霉, losing $10000 in the casino is 倒霉. Meeting a killer a 不幸, meeting a punk is 倒霉.

Also 倒霉 implies acceptance of something that has already happened, just bad luck, nothing can be done about it.

不幸 implies it should not have been like that, think about 不应该。

I hope this would help you clear it up a bit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

糟糕==too bad,awful->我的数学很糟糕->My math is awful.

遗憾==a pity,regret->很遗憾我不能来了->I regret to say i cannot come.

倒霉==be down on one's luck,worse luck->我今天上午倒霉,我丢失了钱包->I was bad luck this morning that i lost my wallet.

可惜==pity-->可惜<--->遗憾,The difference between 可惜 and 遗憾 is the last one is formal pharse meanwhile the fist one is very spoken.

不幸==adversity,misfortune-->noun--->我们对地震造成的不幸非常抱歉--->We are so sorry about the misfortune made from the eartquake.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and select your username and password later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Click here to reply. Select text to quote.

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...