Discussion of 表达/表達 [biǎo dá] to express, to communicate, to convey, to voice

Discussion of 表达/表達

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表示 vs 表达

表达 is a more direct way of expressing using languages (written or verbal);
表示 is indirect and more hidden, less obvious. It can be an action, a symbol, statistics, etc. For example:
他点头表示同意。 r/s [phr] He agreed by nodding.

lisaC

My teacher explained 表达 is more to be used when expressing inner feelings, such as love or affinity to something/someone, while 表示 is more appropriate when sharing one’s attitude, like agreement or alike. Hopefully I understood right and it is properly explained in this post.

ValerioO

This character, 达, seems to mean “reach,” like when something arrives at a certain point. I think the key here with the word 表达 is that the thing you want to “express” has to go through the process internally before it can be made external through expression or showing, that is the point it reaches. Other words with 达 are 达成，达到，等等. 达观 is a word of particular interest to me. Anyone have any thoughts?

shanglino!

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