Taiwanese Mandarin vs mainland Mandarin

What is the difference between Taiwanese Mandarin and mainland Mandarin?

They are the same language, and speakers understand each other with no trouble; the differences are like British and American English. Taiwan writes in traditional characters, 繁体字 (fántǐzì), and teaches children to sound out words with zhuyin, 注音符号 (zhùyīn fúhào), the ㄅㄆㄇㄈ symbols; the mainland writes simplified characters, 简体字 (jiǎntǐzì), and uses pinyin, 拼音 (pīnyīn). Some everyday words differ, as in the chart, the accent is softer, and even the name differs: 国语 (guóyǔ) in Taiwan, 普通话 (pǔtōnghuà) in the mainland and 华语 (huáyǔ) in Singapore and Malaysia.

How is the Taiwanese accent different?

Taiwanese speakers rarely add the -r of erhua, 儿化 (érhuà), so 哪儿 (nǎr) and 一点儿 (yìdiǎnr) are 哪里 (nǎlǐ) and 一点 (yìdiǎn). In everyday speech zh, ch and sh often soften towards z, c and s, many words keep their full tone where the mainland uses a light neutral tone, and sentences end with soft particles like 喔 (o) and 啦 (la). A few standard readings differ too: 垃圾 (rubbish) is lājī in the mainland and lèsè in Taiwan, and 星期 (week) is xīngqī and xīngqí.

What is erhua, and what is the Beijing accent?

Erhua, 儿化 (érhuà), is adding an r sound to the end of a syllable, written with 儿: 玩儿 (wánr), to play, 一会儿 (yíhuìr), a moment. It is strongest in Beijing, where it is heard on almost every other word and gives the city its rolling accent. Standard mainland Mandarin uses it in a set of common words; southern China and Taiwan mostly leave it out, and both are correct.

Is Taiwanese the same as Taiwanese Mandarin?

No. Taiwanese, 台语 (Táiyǔ), is Taiwanese Hokkien, a form of Southern Min, 闽南语 (Mǐnnányǔ): a different Chinese language that a Mandarin speaker cannot understand without learning it. Mandarin, 国语, is the common language of Taiwan, and many people speak both, with Hakka, 客家话 (Kèjiāhuà), and indigenous languages too. Taiwanese Mandarin borrows some words from Hokkien.

Which words mean different things in Taiwan and the mainland?

A few can trip you up. 土豆 (tǔdòu) is a potato in the mainland but a peanut, 花生 (huāshēng), in much of Taiwan. 机车 (jīchē) is a motorbike in Taiwan, and also slang for annoying or fussy. 窝心 (wōxīn) means heartwarming in Taiwan but frustrated in some mainland dialects. And 爱人 (àiren), a husband or wife in the mainland, sounds more like a lover in Taiwan.

Should I learn Taiwanese or mainland Mandarin?

Learn the one you will use: traditional characters and zhuyin if you are going to Taiwan, simplified characters and pinyin for the mainland, Singapore or Malaysia. Grammar, almost all vocabulary and pronunciation are the same, so switching later mostly means learning the other script and a list of words like the ones above. Our traditional to simplified converter turns one script into the other.

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More on Chinese

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• Zhuyin converter
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