Questions tagged [ambiguity]

How does one distinguish between, for example, 便宜 (cheap) and 便宜 (convenient) in written Chinese? The context may give no help whatsoever, cf. 我的大学很便宜。 (Bad example, please excuse my awful Chinese. Feel free to edit with a better one.) Is there a…

(Thanks to ChatGPT for saving me time with the above drawing.) I'm wondering if describing these piles of balls is as finicky in Chinese as in English. I'd naturally use the terms: 三堆颜色不同的球 is equivalent to "three piles of differently colored…

"父亲正忙着写信" In this sentence, it's saying "Father is busy writing (or writing letters)." But it's using 正 and 着 to indicate that it's currently happening (in progress right now). Does "父亲正忙着写信" have ANY difference whatsoever from "父亲在忙写信"? Thanks so…