What's the difference between 称赞, 表扬 and 夸奖?

Question

They all have a meaning of "praise", but do they have a difference?

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 13 '20 at 20:32

They have similar meanings in daily usage.

I personally consider 赞扬 > 称赞 > 夸奖 = 表扬

表扬 and 夸奖 are more common words and are often used when an elementary student is praised by his/her teacher for a good mark in exam. (It’s definitely natural to use them in other scenarios, but we began to use them frequently since elementary school).
称赞 and 赞扬 are often for someone with greater achievements or a higher moral level, such as someone bravely fought the crime for a just cause. 扬 raises the object to a higher level, for which I consider 赞扬 greater than 称赞

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered May 03 '14 at 06:12

These are different forms of praise that can function as a verb or a noun:

2 Answers2