Japanese–Chinese False Friends: 手紙, 勉強, 娘

The words that cost Japanese speakers the most are the ones they recognise at once. 手紙 is a letter in Japanese and toilet paper in the Taiwan MOE dictionary. 勉強 is study in Japanese and “barely, reluctantly” in Mandarin. 大丈夫 is “OK” in Japanese and “a brave man” in Mandarin. This page lists fourteen such words in Traditional characters, with the Japanese meaning, the Taiwan Mandarin meaning, and what a Mandarin speaker would say for the Japanese idea.

If you are new to the shared-script topic, start with Chinese vs Japanese Characters, which sorts which characters match and which differ.

The table

Readings for Mandarin are from the Taiwan MOE dictionary (moedict.tw). The Japanese readings are the common ones.

Word	Japanese	Taiwan Mandarin	What to say instead
手紙	tegami: letter	shǒuzhǐ: toilet paper (MOE)	信 xìn, 書信 shūxìn
勉強	benkyō: study	miǎnqiǎng: with effort, reluctantly, forced	讀書 dúshū, 念書 niànshū, 學習 xuéxí
娘	musume: daughter, young woman	niáng: mother, young woman, wife (MOE senses)	女兒 nǚ’ér
大丈夫	daijōbu: OK, all right	dàzhàngfū: a brave, upright man	沒關係 méi guānxi, 沒事 méi shì
愛人	aijin: lover, often a mistress	àirén: lover (MOE)	情人 qíngrén; wife or husband: see below
丈夫	jōbu: sturdy, durable	zhàngfū: husband	結實 jiēshi for sturdy
老婆	rōba: old woman	lǎopo: wife	老婦人 lǎo fùrén or 老婆婆 lǎo pópo for an old woman
走	(走る) hashiru: run	zǒu: walk, leave	跑 pǎo for run
湯	yu: hot water	tāng: soup (hot water only in old set phrases)	熱水 rèshuǐ for hot water
新聞	shinbun: newspaper	xīnwén: news	報紙 bàozhǐ for newspaper
汽車	kisha: steam train	qìchē: car	火車 huǒchē for train
床	yuka: floor (toko: alcove)	chuáng: bed	地板 dìbǎn for floor
結構	kekkō: fine, quite, no thank you	jiégòu: structure	還不錯 hái búcuò for quite good
野菜	yasai: vegetables	yěcài: wild edible plants (MOE)	蔬菜 shūcài

Two further notes on the table. 約束 (yakusoku) is a promise or an appointment in Japanese, while Mandarin 約束 (yuēshù) means to restrain or control (MOE: 管束). For a promise, 承諾 (chéngnuò) or 答應 (dāyìng) are the usual words. 迷惑 (meiwaku) is nuisance or trouble in Japanese, while Mandarin 迷惑 (míhuò) means to be confused or to mislead. In both cases the Mandarin word does not mean what the Japanese word does.

The ones that cause real trouble

手紙: letter or toilet paper

The MOE dictionary gives the single sense of paper for the toilet. In Taiwan the everyday word is 衛生紙, but 手紙 is understood as toilet paper, so do not use it for a letter. Wanting to write a letter, say 寫信 (xiě xìn). 我寫了一封信給媽媽。 Wǒ xiě le yì fēng xìn gěi māma. (I wrote my mother a letter.) For toilet paper, the everyday Taiwan word is 衛生紙 (wèishēngzhǐ).

勉強: study or reluctantly

In Japanese, the verb to study is 勉強する. In Mandarin the word describes a quality of effort. The MOE dictionary lists three senses: doing the best you can, forced or unnatural, and forcing someone to do what they do not want to. 這個理由很勉強。 Zhège lǐyóu hěn miǎnqiǎng. (This reason is a stretch.) To say a student works hard, use 用功: 他很用功。 Tā hěn yònggōng.

大丈夫: OK or brave man

Japanese speakers say 大丈夫 constantly, and in Mandarin conversation it does not work as “I’m fine”. The Mandarin word is a literary term for a courageous, principled man, and the MOE dictionary defines it that way. For “Are you OK?” and “I’m OK”, say 沒關係 or 沒事: 沒關係，我沒事。 Méi guānxi, wǒ méi shì.

娘: daughter or mother

The Japanese 娘 (musume) is a daughter or a young woman. In Mandarin the MOE dictionary lists several senses of 娘 (niáng): a young woman, a mother, a wife, and a respectful term for an older or married woman. The sense that matters most is mother, as in 爹娘 (diē niáng, father and mother). For daughter, say 女兒: 我女兒今年五歲。 Wǒ nǚ’ér jīnnián wǔ suì.

You will also meet 娘 in 老闆娘 (lǎobǎnniáng), the wife of a shop owner or a woman who runs the business, and in 回娘家 (huí niángjiā), when a married woman goes back to her parents’ home. That is a different branch of the same sense, the woman’s own family.

愛人: lover, and a trap in two directions

In Japanese 愛人 is a lover outside marriage. The MOE dictionary lists 情人 (lover) as a sense, and records a separate mainland usage, in which 愛人 means husband or wife. This means the word can be read differently by a Taiwanese speaker and a mainland speaker. In Taiwan, avoid it for a spouse. Common words for a husband or wife are 先生 and 太太 (a bit formal), 丈夫 and 妻子 (written style), and 老公 and 老婆 (spoken, informal).

丈夫 and 老婆: husband and wife

丈夫 is jōbu (sturdy) in Japanese and zhàngfū (husband) in Mandarin (in mainland speech it is zhàngfu). The MOE dictionary defines it as a married woman’s term for her husband. 老婆 is rōba (an old woman) in Japanese and lǎopo (wife) in Mandarin, defined by the MOE as 妻子. 我老婆是老師。 Wǒ lǎopo shì lǎoshī. (My wife is a teacher.) If you mean an old woman, say 老婦人 or 老婆婆.

走: run or walk

The Japanese verb 走る means to run. In Mandarin, 走 (zǒu) is to walk or to leave, and running is 跑 (pǎo). The MOE dictionary lists a literary sense of fast walking or running for 走, which survives in words like 奔走, but in daily speech 走 is walk. 他走路去學校。 Tā zǒulù qù xuéxiào. (He walks to school.)

新聞, 汽車, 床

• 新聞: a newspaper in Japanese, news in Mandarin. The MOE dictionary defines 新聞 as timely reporting of events. The paper is 報紙.
• 汽車: in Japanese usage, 汽車 historically means a steam train, and an everyday car is 自動車. In Mandarin 汽車 is a car, defined by the MOE as a four-wheeled vehicle driven by a motor.
• 床: the Japanese word is yuka, a floor. In Mandarin 床 (chuáng) is a bed.

Why it happens

Japanese and Chinese inherited the same characters, then each language kept, dropped or reshaped meanings on its own. Sometimes one language kept a classical sense that the other lost. 勉強 for example originally meant to force oneself, which is still the Mandarin sense. In every case the right habit is the same: treat a shared-form word as unconfirmed until you have looked up its Mandarin meaning.

A habit that helps

1. When a word looks familiar, look it up in the dictionary before you use it.
2. Keep a short list of the false friends that tripped you, and review it.
3. Listen to how Taiwanese speakers use the word. If you never hear it, there is a reason.
4. Add the Mandarin word you should use instead, with its tones, not only a warning.

Related reading

• Chinese vs Japanese Characters: From Kanji to Hanzi
• Should I Learn Chinese or Japanese?
• Chinese Family Terms (稱謂)