<p>Use 銷 when the object has man made physical  form</p>

<p>Use 消 when the object has no man made physical  form</p>

<p>We 吊銷牌照 and 銷毀武器</p>

<p>License and weapons have man made physical form</p>

<p>We 消滅 敵人 and 消除恐懼 </p>

<p>Enemy and fear have no  physical form, they are concepts</p>

<p>Simply put, look at the object and you can guess it should be 消 or  銷 in the compound </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-24T22:08:45.123Z
2018-03-25T01:44:05.293Z
2018-03-25T01:44:05.293Z
Tang Ho
<p>In some words that have to do with smelting and metal (銷蝕 , 銷毀 ) it is intuitive we have to use 銷. But in most cases they seem really hard to distinguish.  According to pleco:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>取消: cancel, call off, abolish</p>
<p>註銷: cancel, write off</p>
<p>抵消: offset, cancel out, counteract</p>
<p>撤銷: cancel, rescind, revoke</p>
<p>對消: offset, cancel each other out</p>
<p>吊銷: revoke, withdraw, cancel</p>
<p>消去: cancel, eliminate</p>
<p>銷帳: cancel (or remove) from an account, write off</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It seems that “cancel out” always goes with 銷 not 消，but other words are really hard to predict. Is this something we just have to memorise, or is there any helpful logic or mnemonic?</p>

<difference>
How to guess when to use 銷 or 消 in compounds?
# How to guess when to use 銷 or 消 in compounds?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-03-24)

In some words that have to do with smelting and metal (銷蝕 , 銷毀 ) it is intuitive we have to use 銷. But in most cases they seem really hard to distinguish. According to pleco:

> 取消: cancel, call off, abolish
>
> 註銷: cancel, write off
>
> 抵消: offset, cancel out, counteract
>
> 撤銷: cancel, rescind, revoke
>
> 對消: offset, cancel each other out
>
> 吊銷: revoke, withdraw, cancel
>
> 消去: cancel, eliminate
>
> 銷帳: cancel (or remove) from an account, write off

It seems that “cancel out” always goes with 銷 not 消，but other words are really hard to predict. Is this something we just have to memorise, or is there any helpful logic or mnemonic?

**Tags:** difference


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-03-24. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Use 銷 when the object has man made physical form

Use 消 when the object has no man made physical form

We 吊銷牌照 and 銷毀武器

License and weapons have man made physical form

We 消滅 敵人 and 消除恐懼

Enemy and fear have no physical form, they are concepts

Simply put, look at the object and you can guess it should be 消 or 銷 in the compound


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