<p>when 双 is used, it usually means the thing is born/created/made that way.</p>

<p>when 对 is used, it usually means one match the other in some way.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-11T02:27:58.620Z
2014-06-11T02:27:58.620Z
asha
<p>maybe this'll help choose which to use: (i don't know how universal the rule below will work but it works for the examples in this page so far. my logic is to look for the singular of the pair when just the pair is confusing)</p>

<ul>
<li>if one out of the pair can be prefixed w/ 只， then use 对</li>
<li>if one out of the pair can be prefixed w/ 个， then use 双</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-10T21:27:07.327Z
2012-01-10T21:27:07.327Z
Laguna
<p>双 means pair in the sense of "alike."</p>

<p>对 means "pair" in the sense of "go together. Two rabbits make a good pair, but they're not "alike. (Unless they're twins.)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-01T20:18:54.137Z
2014-07-01T20:18:54.137Z
Tom Au
<p>As far as I can tell, “對/对” is an analog to the English word “couple” when it means “a pair” (“couple” can also mean “several”) and “雙/双” corresponds to the English word “pair”.  The former term has a looser association than the latter term.</p>
<p>Further, “隻/只” is related to “雙/双” in meaning “one of a pair (or couple)”.</p>
<p>For example, one can have a “pair of shoes” and one can have a “couple of shoes”, but the meanings are slightly different. Both phrases indicate that there are two shoes, but “pair” indicates that the items are more tightly associated whereas “a couple of shoes” could be any two random shoes.</p>
<p>Jewelry seems to be an irregularity. “對/对” seems to be preferred for things like pairs of bracelets (一對鐲子/一对镯子) and earrings (一對耳環/一对耳环), which don’t necessarily need to match or even be paired.</p>
<p>Additionally, “副” can refer to a pair as a set as in “一副眼鏡/一副眼镜” whereas a “pair of pants” (“一條褲子/一条裤子”) is not referred to a pair in Chinese at all.</p>
<p>With regard to “雙胞胎/双胞胎”, that’s a fixed term; no measure word is being used. “雙/双” also has the meaning “double”, so “雙胞胎/双胞胎” literally means “double cell fetus” or, less literally, “twins (in the womb)”.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-16T08:25:10.000Z
2024-10-16T08:25:10.000Z
Patrick Dark
<p>In your examples of 一对兔 (yī duì tù) and 一双鞋 (yī shuāng xié), the words 对 and 双 are 量词 (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_classifier" rel="nofollow noreferrer">classifiers</a>, quantifiers, quantitative words, measure words, counter words, etc.) To better understand 对 and 双 as measure words, it is critical to learn their meanings when we use them as normal words.</p>
<p>In Chinese, the word 对 means &quot;two things on opposite sides, or one thing can match another in one way or another&quot;. For example, 上对下, 左对右, 前对后, 男对女, 公对母, etc.</p>
<p>(1) 他写了一副对联。<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duilian_(poetry)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">对联</a>, a pair of lines of poetry usually seen on the sides of doors, one vertical line on the right, another on the left.</p>
<p>You may want to avoid saying 一对对联 simply because you want to use a different word 副 as the classifier.</p>
<p>(2) 我养了一对小猫。一对小猫 implies a male kitten and a female kitten. Otherwise, you'd better say, 我养了两只小猫。</p>
<p>(3) 我的邻居有一对双胞胎。Here using 对 as the classifier is to avoid saying 一双双胞胎. But it can be two girls, two boys, or one girl and one boy. This is different from example (2).</p>
<p>(4) 我出了一对二以后，他出了一对王。(打扑克牌) When playing cards, we do not say 一双二, 一双王.</p>
<p>The word 双 is more flexible than 对 because it simply means &quot;two things&quot;. 双 is used more frequently.</p>
<p>(5) <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FScaled_Composites_Stratolaunch&amp;psig=AOvVaw0QMrAEOicXwgTUzJ5lglhq&amp;ust=1729312192446000&amp;source=images&amp;cd=vfe&amp;opi=89978449&amp;ved=0CBMQjhxqFwoTCIC_0J2Ml4kDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE" rel="nofollow noreferrer">双体飞机</a>。We do not say 对体飞机.</p>
<p>(6) <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pair_skating" rel="nofollow noreferrer">双人滑</a>。 We do not say 对人滑. But we say 这一对运动员滑得很优美。</p>
<p>There are no definite rules for using either 对 or 双. It depends on the practices of the language。</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-18T04:34:06.110Z
2024-10-19T15:04:33.183Z
2024-10-19T15:04:33.183Z
PdotWang
<p>From &quot;Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar&quot; (Routledge):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>一对夫妇 &quot;a married couple&quot;<br />
一对枕头 &quot;a pair of pillows&quot;<br />
一对耳环 &quot;a pair of ear-rings&quot;</p>
<p>一双手 &quot;a pair of hands&quot;<br />
一双眼睛 &quot;a pair of eyes&quot;<br />
两双鞋 &quot;two pairs of shoes&quot;<br />
三双袜子 &quot;three pairs of socks&quot;</p>
<p>The difference between 对 and 双 seems to be that the former emphasizes complementarity while the latter indicates functioning together.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>(Anecdotally, it's been my experience that, due to influence from Cantonese, 对 is much more common in the south even when 双 would be &quot;correct.&quot;)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-10T07:50:57.060Z
That's a super helpful answer - I was always curious behind the reasoning, and that makes a lot of sense. Thanks!
Ciaocibai
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-10T05:37:25.760Z
2012-01-10T05:50:13.413Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Alf
<p>For a pair of rabbits there is:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>一对兔 <em>yī duì tù</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>And for a pair of shoes there is:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>一双鞋 <em>yī shuāng xié</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>And for twins there is:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>双胞胎 <em>shuāngbāotāi</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>How can I be sure when to use 对 and when to use 双?</p>

<word-choice><meaning>
Difference between 对 and 双
# Difference between 对 and 双

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-01-10)

For a pair of rabbits there is:

> 一对兔 *yī duì tù*

And for a pair of shoes there is:

> 一双鞋 *yī shuāng xié*

And for twins there is:

> 双胞胎 *shuāngbāotāi*

How can I be sure when to use 对 and when to use 双?

**Tags:** word-choice, meaning


---

## 6 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2012-01-10. Score: 10 | Accepted answer

From "Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar" (Routledge):

> 一对夫妇 "a married couple"  
> 一对枕头 "a pair of pillows"  
> 一对耳环 "a pair of ear-rings"
>
> 一双手 "a pair of hands"  
> 一双眼睛 "a pair of eyes"  
> 两双鞋 "two pairs of shoes"  
> 三双袜子 "three pairs of socks"
>
> The difference between 对 and 双 seems to be that the former emphasizes complementarity while the latter indicates functioning together.

(Anecdotally, it's been my experience that, due to influence from Cantonese, 对 is much more common in the south even when 双 would be "correct.")

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: That's a super helpful answer - I was always curious behind the reasoning, and that makes a lot of sense. Thanks!  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-06-11. Score: 7

when 双 is used, it usually means the thing is born/created/made that way.

when 对 is used, it usually means one match the other in some way.


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2012-01-10. Score: 2

maybe this'll help choose which to use: (i don't know how universal the rule below will work but it works for the examples in this page so far. my logic is to look for the singular of the pair when just the pair is confusing)

* if one out of the pair can be prefixed w/ 只， then use 对
* if one out of the pair can be prefixed w/ 个， then use 双


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-07-01. Score: 0

双 means pair in the sense of "alike."

对 means "pair" in the sense of "go together. Two rabbits make a good pair, but they're not "alike. (Unless they're twins.)


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2024-10-16. Score: 0

As far as I can tell, “對/对” is an analog to the English word “couple” when it means “a pair” (“couple” can also mean “several”) and “雙/双” corresponds to the English word “pair”. The former term has a looser association than the latter term.

Further, “隻/只” is related to “雙/双” in meaning “one of a pair (or couple)”.

For example, one can have a “pair of shoes” and one can have a “couple of shoes”, but the meanings are slightly different. Both phrases indicate that there are two shoes, but “pair” indicates that the items are more tightly associated whereas “a couple of shoes” could be any two random shoes.

Jewelry seems to be an irregularity. “對/对” seems to be preferred for things like pairs of bracelets (一對鐲子/一对镯子) and earrings (一對耳環/一对耳环), which don’t necessarily need to match or even be paired.

Additionally, “副” can refer to a pair as a set as in “一副眼鏡/一副眼镜” whereas a “pair of pants” (“一條褲子/一条裤子”) is not referred to a pair in Chinese at all.

With regard to “雙胞胎/双胞胎”, that’s a fixed term; no measure word is being used. “雙/双” also has the meaning “double”, so “雙胞胎/双胞胎” literally means “double cell fetus” or, less literally, “twins (in the womb)”.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2024-10-18. Score: 0

In your examples of 一对兔 (yī duì tù) and 一双鞋 (yī shuāng xié), the words 对 and 双 are 量词 ([classifiers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_classifier), quantifiers, quantitative words, measure words, counter words, etc.) To better understand 对 and 双 as measure words, it is critical to learn their meanings when we use them as normal words.

In Chinese, the word 对 means "two things on opposite sides, or one thing can match another in one way or another". For example, 上对下, 左对右, 前对后, 男对女, 公对母, etc.

(1) 他写了一副对联。[对联](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duilian_(poetry)), a pair of lines of poetry usually seen on the sides of doors, one vertical line on the right, another on the left.

You may want to avoid saying 一对对联 simply because you want to use a different word 副 as the classifier.

(2) 我养了一对小猫。一对小猫 implies a male kitten and a female kitten. Otherwise, you'd better say, 我养了两只小猫。

(3) 我的邻居有一对双胞胎。Here using 对 as the classifier is to avoid saying 一双双胞胎. But it can be two girls, two boys, or one girl and one boy. This is different from example (2).

(4) 我出了一对二以后，他出了一对王。(打扑克牌) When playing cards, we do not say 一双二, 一双王.

The word 双 is more flexible than 对 because it simply means "two things". 双 is used more frequently.

(5) [双体飞机](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FScaled_Composites_Stratolaunch&psig=AOvVaw0QMrAEOicXwgTUzJ5lglhq&ust=1729312192446000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBMQjhxqFwoTCIC_0J2Ml4kDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE)。We do not say 对体飞机.

(6) [双人滑](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pair_skating)。 We do not say 对人滑. But we say 这一对运动员滑得很优美。

There are no definite rules for using either 对 or 双. It depends on the practices of the language。


---

