In China, when we read the magazines or newspapers or watch TV, we sometimes see “化妆间” and sometimes see it is written as “化装间”, which may confusing for students learn Chinese in China. They may wonder what is the right writing and what the differences between “化妆” and “化装”.

For the purpose of answering this question, we will talk about the similarities and some tiny differences between these two words to help Chinese language learners study Mandarin Chinese.

Both “化妆” and “化装” are functioned as verbs, which carry the meaning of making up and cultivating the personal appearance. However, the differences students study in China should know are the different ranges of application.

The word “化妆” is to beautify the features, especially to beautify the head and face with cosmetic, thus making someone more beautiful. The following example will be great help for students to study Chinese: 她每天清晨上班前都要化妆。

There are many words are related to the word “化妆” in Chinese language. To learn Chinese, here are two typical examples. The character “妆” in “梳妆” and “浓妆艳抹” should be written as “妆”. Another is the “嫁妆” meaning the trousseau should be written like this because they are all related to make up.

However, “化装” is a little different, which is used to describe that to dress up the actors into some certain roles for the need of performance. When you learn Mandarin, you should know that “化装” is not only decorate the head and face but also the body.

The two examples below are listed to explain this point. One is 孩子们化装后上台演出，分别扮演各种可爱的小动物。”. Another one is “他演中年人非常像，几乎用不着化装。”

Besides, the word “化装” also carries the meaning of “disguise oneself as” while “化妆” doesn’t. For instance, “他化装成樵夫，躲过了敌人的盘查。”. In this sentence, “化装” can’t be changed into “化妆” because the different meaning. In the same way, students attend to Chinese learning programs should have known that the“化装” in “化装成难民”,“化装成商人” and “化装成乞丐” can’t be replaced by “化妆”

Now, let’s move our attention to the questions asked at the very beginning of this article. If we want to describe the working rooms for the purpose of decorating the heads and faces to beautify the features, we should write it as “化妆间”. That’s the way the teachers in the one-on-one Chinese learning programs often explain. And the people working on this will be called “化妆师”.

However, if we intend to describe the places used for decorating the actors, we should write it like “化装间”. Accordingly, the workers to help actors dress up should be called “化装师”. When you can understand these tiny differences between the two words, it will be helpful to learn Mandarin Chinese in the future time.

What’s more, in the same way, the two words “妆饰” and “装饰” are easier to tell apart according to the explanations above. They both mean to decorate and make up but have different objects. “妆饰” is mainly for people while the objects of “装饰” are usually things. Here are two examples to explain. “她今天的妆饰跟平日不同” and “餐厅装饰一新，单位准备在这里举行春节团拜会”.

In order to learn more about such kind of words, students can learn Chinese online free because there are many words of this kind provided on the Internet. It will enrich our language knowledge.

After all of these detailed explanations, I think students can have a clear understanding about these two groups of words.