# 倒 / 可 / 则 / 反而



## Staarkali

Hello all,

I'm pretty sure these four are really different but none of the dictionaries explain clearly the difference between them;

Can we change one another in these examples:
我知道你是想帮忙，但这一来事情*倒*更麻烦了
他个子不高，力气*可*不少
他的话说得不少，她老婆*则*说的不多
风不但没听，*反而*越刮越大了

Thanks in advance!


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## sqlines

Staarkali said:


> Hello all,
> 
> I'm pretty sure these four are really different but none of the dictionaries explain clearly the difference between them;
> 
> Can we change one another in these examples:
> 我知道你是想帮忙，但这一来事情*倒*更麻烦了
> 他个子不高，力气*可*不少
> 他的话说得不少，她老婆*则*说的不多
> 风不但没听，*反而*越刮越大了
> 
> Thanks in advance!


Let me translate in pidgin English because that is the best way to understand Chinese. 
I know you want to help me, but in doing this way things *instead* got worse.
His height not tall, strength *certainly* not little.
He talks a lot, his wife,*however*, talks not much
Wind not only not heard, *instead* the more it blows the bigger it gets (this sentence is odd; the pattern is 不但。。。。而且).


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## gazagoal

I guess the fourth sentence used personification. 
(Sb. *Somebody* tells the wind to stop, but the) wind hears it not, instead it(the wind) blows even harder.

P. S. It is a good way


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## BODYholic

staarkali said:


> 风不但没*听*，*反而*越刮越大了


错字吧?
风不但没*停.*.....


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## Staarkali

BODYholic said:


> 错字吧?
> 风不但没*停.*.....


sorry all for that, I copy that example from the dictionary, I guess I typed too fast..
Note that it makes sense now


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## gazagoal

Hehe, yes, that will make more sense


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## Staarkali

myself said:


> 我知道你是想帮忙，但这一来事情*倒*更麻烦了
> 他个子不高，力气*可*不少
> 他的话说得不少，她老婆*则*说的不多
> 风不但没停，*反而*越刮越大了


好像*反而*，*则*，和*倒*大概都能互换，可能现在*则*这个字用的比较少；你们觉得怎么样，能不能说：
我知道你是想帮忙，但这一来事情*反而*更麻烦了
我知道你是想帮忙，但这一来事情*则*更麻烦了
风不但没停，*倒*越刮越大了
风不但没停，*则*越刮越大了
他的话说得不少，她老婆*倒*说的不多
他的话说得不少，她老婆*反而*说的不多


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## gazagoal

风那句我觉得只有用*反而*读起来比较正常，*倒*勉强，*则*不行。风不但没停，倒越刮越大了

他的话说得不少，她老婆倒说的不多
他的话说得不少，她老婆反而说的不多
这两句的意思和她老婆则说的不多不一样了
*则*很中立
*倒*和*反而*则表示说话人认为他老婆应该说的多，老公说得少。而*则*没有这个意思。


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## samanthalee

It is kind of difficult to explain.
*则* means "in contrast"
*倒* means "in the opposite direction of what is previously said"
*反而* means "going against what is expected"


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## Staarkali

Thank you Gaza and Sam, that increases my understanding of these.

Last question (for now  ): 口语中用则这个字别人不会觉得我说得怪吧？这个字比较书面的还是口语也可以用的？也不能说这个字是古代的吧？


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## BODYholic

Staarkali said:


> Last question (for now  ): 口语中用则这个字别人不会觉得我说得怪吧？这个字比较书面的还是口语也可以用的？也不能说这个字是古代的吧？



'则' - 在口语较为少用.

如: 他的话说得不少，她老婆*则*说的不多
口语: 他的话说得不少，她老婆*却*说的不多
In the above example, '则' takes the meaning of 'But'. 


At a more tricky level, '则' is also commonly employed to bridge between actions and resultants.

A Chinese saying, 穷则变，变则通. If one is poor (穷), then one should change (变). If one changes (变), then things get resolved easily (通).
Symbolically, 穷 -> 变 -> 通 where '则' is represented by ->
(Note: 穷 is abstract) 

Given time, I am sure you are going to be "不鸣则已".


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## samanthalee

BODYholic said:


> At a more tricky level, '则' is also commonly employed to bridge between actions and resultants.


BODYholic has given yet another meaning of '则', which approximately translates to "then".
eg. 穷则变，变则通. literally translates into "If cannot be done, then change; if change, then can be done."
"If...then..., else..." can be translated as "若…则…，否则…" (literally: if...then...,if not then...)


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## Staarkali

aaah.. thus the use of 若 to express a condition (如果); but unless I'm wrong, we are approaching the boundaries of Classical Chinese.

sometimes I feel like Mandarin is a giant puzzle for which a piece will set right every now and then, sometimes a bit unexpectedly


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