If the foreign students can tell apart the differences between the Chinese words with the similar meanings or forms, they can use the words correctly and properly in different situations. When describing something or somebody is beautiful, we have four words to choose. 好看is to say something looks comfortable. It can be used to describe both person and thing but it is usually in oral Chinese. You can say 长得好看and字写得好看.

For the word 漂亮, it emphasizes the color is bright and it is enjoyable in form, which can both for people and things. When it is applied to describe somebody, it can be used for male and female. Of course, the students in Mandarin learning courses might be taught that 漂亮also carries the meaning of being outstanding. For example, 这件事干得很漂亮. 美丽is also often used to describe the beautiful things or persons, emphasizing the well-balanced and elegant form. It is more often used to describe the beautiful appearance, elegant posture and also costumes of women as well as some kinds of sceneries and animals and plants.

Since the word 美丽 carries the tone of being solemn and formal, it is often used in written Chinese language. Let’s move our attention to another word 美观which is also used in written form. This word is mostly for describing the patterns of costumes and certain tools. But the students need to remember it is not allowed to describe people’s appearance.

The group of similar words过来and过去are often confusing for most students who just begin to learn to speak Chinese. The former one indicates to come from another place to the location of the speaker or narrator like 他过来了. On the contrary, 过去is the action which is opposite with that of 过来 like 你不要过去. It also means to get through some barriers like 跳过去. Another application of this word is to describe the vanishing of time gradually such as 时间一天天过去了. The most obvious difference with the word 过来is that 过去can be applied as a noun to indicate the time has passed. You can say忘记过去就意味着背叛.