Usage differences between Taiwan Chinese and Mainland Chinese

Interesting enough, just as American English is different from British English and even more different from South African English(I'm referring to the accent and the slight difference in the use of words here), Taiwanese Chinese and Mainland Chinese has their significant share of differences too, here are a few.

"Garbage": Mainland Chinese version 垃圾 (lājī)

              Taiwanese Mandarin verion 垃圾 (lèsè)

Example: I'm going to throw the trash away

               Mainland Chinese version 我要出去丢垃圾(wǒyàochūqùdiūlājī)
              Taiwanese Mandarin verion 我要出去丟垃圾(wǒyàochūqùdiūlèsè)

"Week": Mainland Chinese version 星期 (xīngqī)

             Taiwanese Mandarin version 星期 (xīngqí)

Example: What day of the week is it today?

             Mainland Chinese version 今天星期幾? (jīntiānxīngqījǐ)
             Taiwanese Mandarin version 今天星期幾? (jīntiānxīngqíjǐ)

"Enterprise": Mainland Chinese version   企业 (qǐyè)

             Taiwanese Mandarin version 企業 (qìyè)

Note the difference between the Mainland Chinese character “业” and Traditional character of "業", which literally means "industry".

Example: How many people are there in your enterprise?

            Mainland Chinese version 你们的企业里有多少人？ (nǐméndeqǐyèlǐyǒuduōshǎorén)
            Taiwanese Mandarin verion 你們的企業裡有多少人? (nǐméndeqìyèlǐyǒuduōshǎorén)

Note the difference between the Mainland Chinese character “里” and Traditional Chinese character "裡" which literally means "inside"

"Danger": Mainland Chinese version 危险 (wēixiǎn)

             Taiwanese Mandarin version 危險 (wéixiǎn)

Note the difference between the Mainland Chinese character "险“ and Traditional Chinese character "險" which literally means "risk"

Example: Be careful! It's dangerous there!

           Mainland Chinese version 小心！那边很危险！(xiǎoxīn! nà biān hěn wēi xiǎn!)
           Traditional Chinese version 小心! 那邊很危險! ( xiǎoxīn! nà biān hěn wéi xiǎn !)

"Including": Mainland Chinese version 包括 (bāokuò)

            Taiwanese Mandarin version 包括 (bāoguā)

Example: This includes me and you.

           Mainland Chinese version 这包括了我和你/妳 (zhèbāokuòlèwǒhénǐ)
           Traditional Chinese version 這包括了我和你/妳 (zhèbāoguālèwǒhénǐ)

Note the difference between the Mainland Chinese character “这” and Traditional Chinese character "這" which literally means "here"

"Accumulate": Mainland Chinese version 积累 (jīlěi)

            Taiwanese Mandarin version 累積 (lěijī)

Note the difference between  the Mainland Chinese character "积“ and Traditional Chinese character "積" which literally means to "add up"

Also note here that the usage of the verb is not quite the same between the Mainland and Taiwanese version. It's 积累 in Mainland China and 累積 in Mandarin in .Taiwan

Example: I need to accumulate some work experience.

           Mainland Chinese version 我需要积累一些工作经验 (wǒxūyàojīlěiyìxiēgōngzuòjīngyàn)
           Traditional Chinese version 我需要累積一些工作經驗 (wǒxūyàolěijīyìxiēgōngzuòjīngyàn)

"A little bit": Mainland Chinese version 一点儿 (yìdiǎnér)

           Taiwanese Mandarin version 一點點 (yìdiǎndiǎn)

Note that the characters 点儿 are different between the Mainland and Taiwanese versions, 点 literally means "dot" or "period", hence the meaning "little".

Example: A: Do you speak English?
              B: I only speak a little English.

             Mainland Chinese version A: 你会说英语吗？(nǐhuìshuōyīnyǔmā)
                                                     B: 我只会说一点儿英语。(wǒzhǐhuìshuōyìdiǎnéryīngyǔ)

            Taiwanese Mandarin version: A: 妳會說英語嗎? ( nǐhuìshuōyīnyǔmā)
                                                         B: 我只會說一點點英語. (wǒzhǐhuìshuōyìdiǎnéryīngyǔ)

So, the above are differences one may find when listening to people from Mainland Chinese and Taiwan speak, note that people from these places may understand one another intelligibly, just that sometimes one may have to concentrate and listen carefully in order to fully grasp what the other person is saying.

Till next time!