Asked9 years, 6 months ago
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What is the difference between 通常,经常,and 常常?
I hear them a lot in conversational Chinese, but I can't pick out the difference in meaning. The dictionaries I've checked don't seem to agree on their chosen English translations.
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askedJan 23 '12 at 8:04
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Generally, 经常 is used ahead of action, like 我经常加班
通常 is used to describe things happened frequently. like 事情通常是这样的
常常 can be used for both of the cases.
----- Edit -----
他通常说的都是对的.
我通常都是晚上开始工作.
both are okay to me too, you can see the differences.
常常 can always take place of 经常 (anyway, I cannot recall any examples now that cannot replace it).
通常来说, 常常 can also take place of 通常, but we just don't say 常常来说 :)
answeredJan 23 '12 at 11:55
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常常 simply means "often", and is not very formal. You wouldn't find it in legal documents and such.
经常 means "fr