<p>They both mean "excessive" but 夸张 is less pejorative.</p>

<p>夸张 literally means "long in praise," and has the connotations of "a little too much." Think of a glass of water that is filled to "overflowing," so a little bit spills onto the table. </p>

<p>过分 has the connotations of "over the top," "crossed the lines," etc. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-23T19:39:03.623Z
2014-06-23T19:39:03.623Z
Tom Au
<p>夸张 (kuāzhāng) simply means Hyperbole, Exaggeration. </p>

<p>As in, your friend told a story that was too <code>夸张</code>... </p>

<p><code>你朋友的故事太夸张了 - your friend's story is a bit exaggerated...</code></p>

<p>Or if someone is acting ridiculous, crazy, or flamboyant (in a funny way, not in a mean way), you could say they're acting 夸张.</p>

<hr>

<p>过分 (guòfèn), as you can tell from the two characters 过 (overstep), 分 (portion, point)... that they've overstepped their points/ or overstepped their boundaries. </p>

<p><code>你朋友干吗打我？ 他太过分了。。。 - Why did your friend hit me? He went a bit overboard...</code></p>

<hr>

<p>Something helpful for me... </p>

<p>When the translations of words are similar (in the case of 夸张 and 过分), it always helps to break the word into parts as I described above. That helps for two reasons:</p>

<ul>
<li>It gets you familiar with the individual meanings of characters</li>
<li>Makes you more self-sufficient with learning the language as you can dissect each meaning when given ambiguous translations</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-08T15:52:05.467Z
2013-07-09T04:40:59.883Z
2013-07-09T04:40:59.883Z
user3871
<p>I often hear both used to describe a person or a person's action. The direct translations aren't the same, but from my experience, when used in context, I can't tell when to use one over the other. What are the differences?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-24T03:42:36.397Z
And in best case scenario, you could be exaggerate too much and make people feeling annoying, then you would be "过分夸张" ;-)
moiaussi06
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-08T15:14:16.833Z
Briefly speaking, 夸张 is neutral, but 过分 is derogatory.
Stan
<difference>
What is the difference between 夸张 and 过分
# What is the difference between 夸张 and 过分

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-07-08)

I often hear both used to describe a person or a person's action. The direct translations aren't the same, but from my experience, when used in context, I can't tell when to use one over the other. What are the differences?

**Tags:** difference

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Briefly speaking, 夸张 is neutral, but 过分 is derogatory.  
> **username_1**: And in best case scenario, you could be exaggerate too much and make people feeling annoying, then you would be "过分夸张" ;-)  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2013-07-08. Score: 13 | Accepted answer

夸张 (kuāzhāng) simply means Hyperbole, Exaggeration.

As in, your friend told a story that was too `夸张`...

`你朋友的故事太夸张了 - your friend's story is a bit exaggerated...`

Or if someone is acting ridiculous, crazy, or flamboyant (in a funny way, not in a mean way), you could say they're acting 夸张.

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过分 (guòfèn), as you can tell from the two characters 过 (overstep), 分 (portion, point)... that they've overstepped their points/ or overstepped their boundaries.

`你朋友干吗打我？ 他太过分了。。。 - Why did your friend hit me? He went a bit overboard...`

---

Something helpful for me...

When the translations of words are similar (in the case of 夸张 and 过分), it always helps to break the word into parts as I described above. That helps for two reasons:

* It gets you familiar with the individual meanings of characters
* Makes you more self-sufficient with learning the language as you can dissect each meaning when given ambiguous translations


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### Answer by username_3 on 2014-06-23. Score: 2

They both mean "excessive" but 夸张 is less pejorative.

夸张 literally means "long in praise," and has the connotations of "a little too much." Think of a glass of water that is filled to "overflowing," so a little bit spills onto the table.

过分 has the connotations of "over the top," "crossed the lines," etc.


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