Simplified vs Traditional Chinese: What Is the Difference?

Two ways to write, not two languages

"Chinese" covers a family of spoken varieties, such as Mandarin and Cantonese, and a writing system shared across them. Simplified and Traditional characters are two standard forms of that writing system. They are not two languages: a sentence written in either form is the same sentence, read the same way.

Mandarin is the standard spoken language of mainland China and Taiwan and one of Singapore's official languages. Cantonese is widely spoken in Hong Kong and Macau. Which script people read depends on where they live and went to school, not only on which variety they speak.

What simplification changed

Simplified characters use fewer strokes for many common characters. Some simplifications replace a frequent component everywhere it appears, such as the speech component 言 becoming 讠. Others adopt an older handwritten or cursive shape, or replace a complex character with a simpler one that sounds the same.

In a few cases one simplified character stands for two or more traditional ones. 发 writes both 發 (to send out) and 髮 (hair); 后 writes both 后 (queen) and 後 (after). Converting Simplified text to Traditional is therefore not always a one-to-one swap.

Many characters are the same in both

Simplification touched only part of the character set. A large share of everyday characters are written the same way in both forms, and the grammar and vocabulary of the written language are the same. A reader of one form can usually guess many characters of the other after some exposure.

• 人

  rén

  person

• 大

  dà

  big

• 中文

  Zhōngwén

  Chinese (language)

• 我是学生。

  Wǒ shì xuésheng.

  I am a student.

  In Traditional characters only 學 changes: 我是學生。

Why simplification happened

Proposals to reduce the number of strokes go back to the early twentieth century, as part of efforts to make reading and writing easier to learn. The People's Republic of China issued its Chinese Character Simplification Scheme in 1956, and the General List of Simplified Characters followed in 1964; the list in use today is the 1986 revision. A second round of simplifications announced in 1977 was withdrawn in 1986.

Since 2013 the Table of General Standard Chinese Characters, issued by the State Council, lists 8,105 characters in their standard mainland form.

Where each form is used

Chinese communities abroad use both forms, often depending on when and from where families emigrated. Online you will meet both.

Which one should you learn?

Choose the form used where you want to read, live or work. If you are preparing for the HSK, learn Simplified: the HSK 3.0 syllabus and its materials are published in Simplified characters, and Mythic Mandarin teaches Simplified characters with pinyin.

Learning the second form later is much easier than learning the first. Our dictionary shows the Traditional form of a word when it differs, so you meet the other form gradually.

Common misunderstandings

• Not: 繁体中文是另一种语言。

  But: 繁体字和简体字写的是同一种语言。 Fántǐzì hé jiǎntǐzì xiě de shì tóng yì zhǒng yǔyán.

  The idea that Traditional is a different language: both forms write the same language.

• Thinking every character changed: many common characters are identical.
• Assuming Simplified means Mandarin and Traditional means Cantonese: Taiwan speaks Mandarin and writes Traditional.
• Expecting automatic conversion to be perfect: some simplified characters stand for several traditional ones.

Practice

1. Characters

   Which is the Simplified form of "country"?

   1. 国
   2. 國
   Show the answer

   Answer: A, 国.

   国 is Simplified; 國 is the Traditional form with more strokes.

2. Characters

   Which character is written the same in both forms?

   1. 人
   2. 马
   3. 书
   Show the answer

   Answer: A, 人.

   人 did not change. 马 and 书 are Simplified; their Traditional forms are 馬 and 書.

3. Reading

   Which script is usual in Taiwan?

   1. Traditional
   2. Simplified
   Show the answer

   Answer: A, Traditional.

   Taiwan uses Traditional characters, while its main spoken language is Mandarin.

4. Reading

   Which form does the HSK 3.0 syllabus use?

   1. Simplified
   2. Traditional
   Show the answer

   Answer: A, Simplified.

   The HSK 3.0 syllabus is published in Simplified characters, so HSK learners start with Simplified.