<p>确定 means sure that / sure to do something.</p>

<p>(我确定他在中午之前一定能把那碗饭吃完。）--> I am sure that he will be able to finish eating that plate of rice. </p>

<p>决定(N) means decision. </p>

<p>（二十分钟后，他终于做出了决定。）--> 20 minutes later, he finally made his decision.</p>

<p>决定(V) means decide to do something. </p>

<p>(我决定吃饭。）--> I decided to eat rice.</p>

<p>Hope this helped. (:</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-10T16:40:45.360Z
2014-05-10T16:40:45.360Z
snivysteel
<p>确定=i am sure that
决定=i decide to do sth</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-12T03:01:54.273Z
Sorry this is wrong. Avery's referring to the verb usage of 确定, as in, 'to confirm'.
deutschZuid
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-10T05:11:32.780Z
2014-05-10T05:11:32.780Z
shiqi
<p>确定 means 'be sure' or 'comfirm'/'be confirmed'. 我确定他会回来的.(I'm sure he will be back.)</p>

<p>决定 (v) means 'decide to do'. 我决定做...(I decide to do something...)</p>

<p>决定 (n) means 'decision'. 我终于做出了决定.(Finally, I made my decision.)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-09T03:20:00.693Z
Don't know if this helps - but I think it's useful:

确定, like Soony said, means "to be sure" : so like in English when we want to say "are you sure?!" - in Chinese you can just say "确定吗?" .... but you could never say "决定吗?" if anything you could say "决定了吗?" which would just mean "have you decided?", "have you made a decision?" or "have you made a choice?" ... hope that clears things up a bit
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-09T05:28:02.337Z
@user3306356 does that make 确定 like 肯定?
Ming
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-09T05:45:52.377Z
'我确定答案是B' has the same meaning as '我肯定答案是B'. Both of the two sentences mean 'I'm sure the answer is B'. But '肯定' also has a meaning of 'must be'. '这车肯定出故障了'(There must be something wrong with the car.), where you can't use '确定'. It has to be 'SOMEONE 肯定...'.
Soony
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-09T07:31:17.697Z
@Soony I was following you up until "It has to be 'SOMEONE 肯定...'" because your example used '这车' rather than a someone?
Ming
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-09T07:57:04.133Z
Ah, my mistake. Obviously I meant 'SOMETHING 肯定 ...'. People use this to state the their conclusion/judgement.
Soony
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-09T02:18:46.273Z
2014-05-09T02:18:46.273Z
Soony
<p>The two words mean approximately the same thing but I find that there is a nuance I'm missing in terms of the appropriate context to use one or the other. How should I think about the difference between these two?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-09T01:53:33.393Z
+1, I've also found myself wondering this. Since I don't know the answer I'll just make a comment: Oxford Chinese Dictionary states 确定 is a verb or an adjective, whereas 决定 is a verb or a noun, which at the least means usage is different.
Ming
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-02T01:46:11.573Z
作为中国人，一直认为decide是"决定"的意思，没想到还能当"确定"用 `Pingting decided that ‘Dong Dignan’ spent money extravagantly and admired his tactics.` 中文大概意思是 `Pingting通过一些事，确定‘Dong Dignan’是个花钱大手大脚的人`。
Zhang
<word-choice><difference>
When do I use 确定 vs 决定？
# When do I use 确定 vs 决定？

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-05-09)

The two words mean approximately the same thing but I find that there is a nuance I'm missing in terms of the appropriate context to use one or the other. How should I think about the difference between these two?

**Tags:** word-choice, difference

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: +1, I've also found myself wondering this. Since I don't know the answer I'll just make a comment: Oxford Chinese Dictionary states 确定 is a verb or an adjective, whereas 决定 is a verb or a noun, which at the least means usage is different.  
> **username_2**: 作为中国人，一直认为decide是"决定"的意思，没想到还能当"确定"用 `Pingting decided that ‘Dong Dignan’ spent money extravagantly and admired his tactics.` 中文大概意思是 `Pingting通过一些事，确定‘Dong Dignan’是个花钱大手大脚的人`。  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2014-05-09. Score: 13 | Accepted answer

确定 means 'be sure' or 'comfirm'/'be confirmed'. 我确定他会回来的.(I'm sure he will be back.)

决定 (v) means 'decide to do'. 我决定做...(I decide to do something...)

决定 (n) means 'decision'. 我终于做出了决定.(Finally, I made my decision.)

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: Don't know if this helps - but I think it's useful:  确定, like username_6 said, means "to be sure" : so like in English when we want to say "are you sure?!" - in Chinese you can just say "确定吗?" .... but you could never say "决定吗?" if anything you could say "决定了吗?" which would just mean "have you decided?", "have you made a decision?" or "have you made a choice?" ... hope that clears things up a bit  
> **username_1**: @user3306356 does that make 确定 like 肯定?  
> **username_6**: '我确定答案是B' has the same meaning as '我肯定答案是B'. Both of the two sentences mean 'I'm sure the answer is B'. But '肯定' also has a meaning of 'must be'. '这车肯定出故障了'(There must be something wrong with the car.), where you can't use '确定'. It has to be 'SOMEONE 肯定...'.  
> **username_1**: @username_6 I was following you up until "It has to be 'SOMEONE 肯定...'" because your example used '这车' rather than a someone?  
> **username_6**: Ah, my mistake. Obviously I meant 'SOMETHING 肯定 ...'. People use this to state the their conclusion/judgement.  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2014-05-10. Score: 2

确定 means sure that / sure to do something.

(我确定他在中午之前一定能把那碗饭吃完。）--> I am sure that he will be able to finish eating that plate of rice.

决定(N) means decision.

（二十分钟后，他终于做出了决定。）--> 20 minutes later, he finally made his decision.

决定(V) means decide to do something.

(我决定吃饭。）--> I decided to eat rice.

Hope this helped. (:


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### Answer by username_4 on 2014-05-10. Score: 1

确定=i am sure that
决定=i decide to do sth

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: Sorry this is wrong. Avery's referring to the verb usage of 确定, as in, 'to confirm'.  

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