Chinese word

相对

Pronunciation

Pinyinxiāng duì

Meaning

  • adverbrelatively

Example

这次考试相对容易。zhè cì kǎo shì xiāng duì róng yì

This exam is relatively easy.

Illustration for 相对 (relatively)

More examples

相对有利的政策吸引了投资。xiāng duì yǒu lì de zhèng cè xī yǐn le tóu zī

The relatively favorable policy attracted investment.

Core concept

Something is placed beside a standard or another thing, and its degree is judged from that relationship.

Common phrases

  • 相对而言xiāng duì ér yán

    relatively speaking

  • 相对有利xiāng duì yǒu lì

    relatively favorable

  • 相对较高xiāng duì jiào gāo

    relatively high

Similar words

比较bǐ jiào: Shows that a quality is relatively high compared with a set standard.
有点儿yóu diǎnr: Indicates that a degree is present to some extent in casual speech.
稍微shāo wēi: Indicates a small degree, suggesting that a quality is present only a little.
相当xiāng dāng: Shows that a degree is fairly or quite high.

Definition in Chinese

表示在一定参照或比较对象下不是绝对而存在差异的程度，既可作程度副词使用，也可作形容词表示事物的相对性，如“相对容易”“相对而言”。biǎo shì zài yí dìng cān zhào huò bǐ jiào duì xiàng xià bú shì jué duì ér cún zài chā yì de chéng dù jì kě zuò chéng dù fù cí shǐ yòng yě kě zuò xíng róng cí biǎo shì shì wù de xiāng duì xìng rú xiāng duì róng yì xiāng duì ér yán

Word origin

相 (xiāng, "mutual") + 对 (duì, "face or correspond") describes two sides meeting or matching, a formation that naturally develops into the idea of a comparison-based degree.

Usage tips

  • Placed before an adjective, it makes a judgment less absolute while still presenting the quality as genuine under a relevant standard.

Other meanings

  • somewhatadverb
  • relativeadjective

Opposites

Related words

  • 相对性xiāng duì xìngrelativitynoun
  • 相对主义xiāng duì zhǔ yìrelativismnoun

Word lists with this word