nkchew33 says
Please explanation between 关于 and 对于 as these words are truly confusing.
NK Chew, Malaysia.
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This is also something I was wondering, hopefully we can get an answer.
There are situations where these two terms overlap but let’s look at examples where the cannot be used interchangeably.
关于 關於
about; concerning
有關於足球的最新消息嗎？
我想寫關於農民工生活的書。
I would say that 关于 is very similar to “about”. When you want to talk about something find our about something, you’ll use the word 關於.
对于 對於
as far as something is concerned; with regards to this/that/other
对于 on the other hand is specific in terms of it’s specificity. You’re not talking generally at something. Rather, you are specifically focusing on something. It might be useful to look at vocab with the character 对 － 对面 对方. There is a clear directional feeling and a specific target. Let’s now look at some example sentences.
对于你的遭遇，我十分同情。
对于这件事，他们夫妻俩都有责任，我们不知道该责怪谁。
For the first sentence, you might translate it something like this - “I’m very sorry to hear about your circumstance” or more literally “Regarding your circumstance, I’m very sympathetic”. But I think it would be perhaps more useful to think of it like this.
“I’m very sorry to hear about your (specific) circumstance” or more literally “Regarding your (specific) circumstance, I’m very sympathetic”.
With the term 对于, there is an element of specificity. You don’t want to talk about something generally, you want to point out a specific aspect or issue. That’s why often you cannot replace it with 关于, because it’s too general.
I’m not sure if that clarifies the use and the feeling of the terms. If not, give me more specific questions and I’ll try my best to explain.
如果你们可以详细的解释你们对于这个两个字的问题，我会尽我所能的回答你们的问题。
On another note. All the examples sentences came from our Dictionary Tool. I think it‘s great for questions like this.
Dear Fiona,
Thanks for the detailed explanation. I have finally understood the meaning of these two words.
Chinesepod has been very helpful all these years.
Thanks again.