Chinlingo Chinese character: 矮 and 低

[Do you know?]

Both the characters "矮" and "低" can be used to describe the height of something. Is there any difference between them?

[Definitions]

矮 (ǎi): low in rank or grade; low in height

低 (dī): small distance from bottom to top; small distance from the ground (opposite to "high"); below general standard or below average; lower in grade

[Uses]

Both "矮" and "低" can be used as an adjective to describe a height. However, "低" can also be used as a verb and followed by an object as in "低头" (dī tóu, lower one's head). "矮" cannot be used as a verb.

Examples

√ 你的声音太低了，我听不清楚。(nǐ de shēnɡ yīn tài dī le, wǒ tīnɡ bù qīnɡ chu)

  Your voice is too low to be heard clearly.

X 你的声音太矮了，我听不清楚。

√ 我低头一看，脚不知道什么时候碰破皮了。(wǒ dī tóu yí kàn, jiǎo bù zhī dào shén me shí hou pènɡ pò pí le+翻译) 。

I looked down and found that my leg had been scratched sometime.

X 我矮头一看，脚不知道什么时候碰破皮了。

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