Generally speaking, Chinese is a difficult language to learn for overseas students that just begin to learn Chinese in China. And there are many words in Chinese are similar in appearance as well as meaning. These factors make it more complicated to study Chinese for them.
To help students to learn Mandarin Chinese better, we will learn and distinguish some groups of words that are frequently-used but difficult to tell apart.
Let’s take a look the first group “平安(pínɡ ān)” and “安全(ān quán)”. “平安(pínɡ ān)” is used as an adjective which means steady and no accident happens and no danger. If you study Mandarin Chinese in China, you may often say “一路平安(yí lù pínɡ ān)” and “平安无事(pínɡ ān wú shì)” to show desire to be safe.
For “安全(ān quán)”, when it used as a noun, it means no threat, no danger, harm and damage. We often say “交通安全(jiāo tōnɡ ān quán) and “人身安全(rén shēn ān quán)”. When it is used as an adjective, it means life, property and territory are safe. The examples are “食品安全(shí pǐn ān quán)” and “既方便又安全(jì fānɡ biàn yòu ān quán)
For everyone who makes up his mind to learn Mandarin in China must know that even though the words “报到（bào dào）” and “报道(bào dào)/“报导(bào dǎo)” have the same pronunciation, they are greatly different in meaning.
“报到（bào dào）means to report one’s arrival to the relevant departments. Accordingly, we can say “新兵开始报到（xīn bīnɡ kāi shǐ bào dào）”. However, “报道(bào dào)/“报导(bào dǎo)” indicates to report news to the public through newspapers and periodicals, broadcast and television and so on. Therefore, we can say “新闻报道了北方的灾情（xīn wén bào dào le běi fānɡ de zāi qínɡ）”. This pair of words is easy to distinguish when you study in China. Besides, it can be used as a noun, carrying the meaning of press release that reported by written form or the media form. That’s why we can say “长篇报导(chánɡ piān bào dǎo)”.
The most efficient way to comprehend the tiny difference between two similar words is the one-on-one Chinese learning programs because it makes it possible to explain thoroughly..
If you want to learn Chinese, the two words “让(rànɡ)” and ”被(bèi)” must be learned, both of whom all used to express passivity. As a verb, “让(rànɡ)” means to give convenience or benefit to others in “让位（rànɡ wèi）”. It also indicates to request somebody to accept the serve when it used in the words “让茶（rànɡ chá）”. The third meaning is transferring the ownership to others like “转让（zhuǎn rànɡ）”. In the words “让开（rànɡ kāi）” and “当仁不让（dānɡ rén bú rànɡ）”， it implies to decline, refuse and dodge.
However, ”被(bèi)” is functioned as a preposition. The subject is the receiver, and the doer is after it. In some situations, the object of ”被(bèi)” can be omitted but that of “让(rànɡ)” is not allowed. Actually, you can learn Chinese online free. This kind of explanation can be found on the Internet.
There is a perfect way to comprehend Chinese similar words, that is, to establish your Chinese learning programs to make schedules in studying Mandarin.