# to celebrate Easter



## yuechu

大家好！

The dictionary says that "to celebrate" + holiday is "庆祝", but I usually hear "过" used (at least for the big, important holidays like 春节).
If I wanted to say "Westerners celebrate Easter by going to church and having Easter egg hunts for the kids, painting eggs, etc." in simple, spoken Chinese, how would you translate this?
“西方人过(庆祝?）复活节是这样的：去弥撒，藏巧克力复活节鸡蛋，画复活节鸡蛋，等等"?

Thanks!


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## henter

没过过复活节。不清楚这方面的传统。您翻译的“去弥撒，藏巧克力复活节鸡蛋，画复活节鸡蛋等等"这样的活动没问题. 个人觉得只要加上这样的活动.


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## yuechu

OK! Thanks, Henter!


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## Tsau

It's worth noting that we call the Easter Eggs 复活节彩蛋 or simply 彩蛋 in Chinese.


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## yuechu

Thanks, Tsau!


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## retrogradedwithwind

庆祝→celebrate
过→？？？我竟想不到用哪个词翻译……

Westerners celebrate Easter by going to church and having Easter egg hunts for the kids, painting eggs, etc.
西方人庆祝复活节，会去教堂（做弥撒），给孩子藏彩蛋，画（各种各样的）彩蛋，等等。


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## zhg

retrogradedwithwind said:


> 过→？？？我竟想不到用哪个词翻译……


perhaps, spend？


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## yuechu

retrogradedwithwind said:


> 庆祝→celebrate
> 过→？？？我竟想不到用哪个词翻译……
> 
> Westerners celebrate Easter by going to church and having Easter egg hunts for the kids, painting eggs, etc.
> 西方人庆祝复活节，会去教堂（做弥撒），给孩子藏彩蛋，画（各种各样的）彩蛋，等等。


Oh, those are great translations. Thanks, Retrogradedwithwind! 

EDIT: 做弥撒 sounds better than 去弥撒, right? Or are both ok?


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## gonecar

yuechu said:


> Oh, those are great translations. Thanks, Retrogradedwithwind!
> 
> EDIT: 做弥撒 sounds better than 去弥撒, right? Or are both ok?


做弥撒/去做弥撒


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## yuechu

Thanks, Gonecar!


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## hx1997

I think...

庆祝 means you celebrate a festival with some activities marking the event. 过 (literally "pass") can simply mean the reaching and passing of festivals, without celebratory activities, or it can mean the same as 庆祝 but is less formal. 过 can also mean you observe a festival (that is, as opposed to not observing due to different culture/beliefs, etc).

西方人庆祝复活节会... => suggests there will be special activities at Easter
西方人过复活节会... => basically the same but perhaps less formal
明天她过生日 => Her birthday is coming tomorrow. There can be celebrations or there can be none.
大多数中国人不过复活节 => Most Chinese people don't observe/celebrate Easter (= don't acknowledge its significance/keep it as a custom, mostly because they don't believe in Christianity).


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## yuechu

Thanks for your explanations and examples, hx1997!


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