<p>国务委员兼外交部长王毅 = 国务委员、外交部长王毅</p>
<p>中共中央政治局常委、国务院副总理韩正 = 中共中央政治局常委兼国务院副总理韩正</p>
<p>If phrases are long, we use &quot;、&quot; instead of &quot;兼&quot; to avoid a too long sentense without seperator.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-03T12:40:51.677Z
Agree, long phrases like 中共中央总书记兼国家主席兼中央军委主席习近平 is hard to read
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-03T13:35:44.540Z
How about "兼職", "兼差", "兼課"?
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-03T13:54:46.037Z
It means "hold two" as a vt.
Spin Lee
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-03T18:15:40.383Z
Yes, but the second position has a lesser role/ranking than the first, isn't it? "本職vs兼職", "本科教授vs代課教授". In those, 兼職 = 副業.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-04T02:51:44.013Z
@TangHo In China the higher the rank is, the shorter of the title, haha, as far as I know, the biggest bosses address each other with 同志 only, like 小平同志, same as the practice in Hong Kong, where people of high importance are just known as 李生，王生, but not 李总，王董
NanningYouth
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-04T04:04:53.317Z
@r13 Yes, you are right.
Spin Lee
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-17T02:57:55.197Z
@TangHo Here is the except of news story appearing in 央广网, official media, 重庆日报讯 (记者 王亚同)4月16日至17日，中宣部副部长、中央广播电视总台台长兼总编辑慎海雄率总台相关部门负责人，在重庆就成渝地区双城经济圈建设、用好红色资源、生态保护等开展调研，并为中央广播电视总台党史学习教育基地启用揭牌。in which the offical title of 慎海雄 includes 兼, even the phrase is long enough to make reading difficult as you said above.
NanningYouth
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-03T12:30:43.980Z
2021-07-03T12:30:43.980Z
Spin Lee
<blockquote>
<p><em>... but grammatically there should have been that word 兼.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Spin Lee's answer already pointed out that 兼 can be replaced by a comma to avoid having a run-on phrase. For example, 中共中央总书记兼国家主席兼中央军委主席习近平 is hard to read, 中共中央总书记、国家主席、中央军委主席习近平 break up this long-phrase neatly, make it easy on the eyes thus easier to read</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>I believe, the word 兼 is used to connect two things that are of the same status or importance</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Typically, the order on a list of titles either 1. from the more prominent to the less prominent  2. following a timeline</p>
<p>Example:</p>
<p>好丈夫兼好父親 - Since one should become a husband before he becomes a father, we list them in this order, and link them with a 兼 (short phrases don't need to be broke up with a comma like the long ones)</p>
<p>店主兼主廚 - The owner appoints the head chef of his restaurant, therefore, 店主 comes first and 主廚 comes second in this phrase. Notice 'Owner' of a restaurant is also the more prominent status than the head chef of a restaurant, it is another reason for 店主 comes before 主廚. And '他是店主兼主廚' is a good example of not replacing 兼 with a comma --  '他是店主、主廚' sounds disjointed</p>
<p>You have to have a 本職 before you can find a 兼職. Therefore, one's 本職 is always listed before his 兼職</p>
<p>From '中共中央总书记兼国家主席兼中央军委主席习近平', we know 中共中央总书记 is the most important title 习近平 currently holds</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-03T22:59:49.910Z
I agree with the order. Though disagree on how it is used in political figures holding multiple positions unless other than the first is an honorary/ceremonial position. But I am not certain about it, so I vote this answer up.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-04T02:45:57.213Z
One thing interesting I come to know after your explanation is that when 兼 is used the official posts are from the same agency of the government, like in the case of 王毅, because the two titles are both under the control of the State Council, but for the other two examples, the titles are from different agencies. 总书记 is the title of the Party, 国家主席 the title of the State, 中央军委主席 the title of the military.
NanningYouth
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-03T20:44:01.697Z
2021-07-03T20:49:42.830Z
2021-07-03T20:49:42.830Z
Tang Ho
<p>I believe, the word 兼 is used to connect two things that are of the same status or importance, but in this case 国务委员兼外交部长王毅, 国务委员(State Councilor) is a higher-ranking position than 外交部长(foreign minister), and in another case 中共中央政治局常委、国务院副总理韩正, things are different, there is not the word 兼 in between the two titles, the same applies in the case of 中共中央总书记、国家主席、中央军委主席习近平, but grammatically there should have been that word 兼.</p>
<p>Why is so? How is 兼 used?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-04T13:24:48.460Z
Kindly suggest not to treat Han laguage as some rigid and boring “Eight-legged essay”（八股文）. It is very flexible actually.
Spin Lee
<word>
How is 兼 used when it is used to connect two titles?
# How is 兼 used when it is used to connect two titles?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-07-03)

I believe, the word 兼 is used to connect two things that are of the same status or importance, but in this case 国务委员兼外交部长王毅, 国务委员(State Councilor) is a higher-ranking position than 外交部长(foreign minister), and in another case 中共中央政治局常委、国务院副总理韩正, things are different, there is not the word 兼 in between the two titles, the same applies in the case of 中共中央总书记、国家主席、中央军委主席习近平, but grammatically there should have been that word 兼.

Why is so? How is 兼 used?

**Tags:** word

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Kindly suggest not to treat Han laguage as some rigid and boring “Eight-legged essay”（八股文）. It is very flexible actually.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-07-03. Score: 3

国务委员兼外交部长王毅 = 国务委员、外交部长王毅

中共中央政治局常委、国务院副总理韩正 = 中共中央政治局常委兼国务院副总理韩正

If phrases are long, we use "、" instead of "兼" to avoid a too long sentense without seperator.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Agree, long phrases like 中共中央总书记兼国家主席兼中央军委主席习近平 is hard to read  
> **username_3**: How about "兼職", "兼差", "兼課"?  
> **username_1**: It means "hold two" as a vt.  
> **username_3**: Yes, but the second position has a lesser role/ranking than the first, isn't it? "本職vs兼職", "本科教授vs代課教授". In those, 兼職 = 副業.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 In China the higher the rank is, the shorter of the title, haha, as far as I know, the biggest bosses address each other with 同志 only, like 小平同志, same as the practice in Hong Kong, where people of high importance are just known as 李生，王生, but not 李总，王董  
> **username_1**: @username_3 Yes, you are right.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 Here is the except of news story appearing in 央广网, official media, 重庆日报讯 (记者 王亚同)4月16日至17日，中宣部副部长、中央广播电视总台台长兼总编辑慎海雄率总台相关部门负责人，在重庆就成渝地区双城经济圈建设、用好红色资源、生态保护等开展调研，并为中央广播电视总台党史学习教育基地启用揭牌。in which the offical title of 慎海雄 includes 兼, even the phrase is long enough to make reading difficult as you said above.  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-07-03. Score: 1

> *... but grammatically there should have been that word 兼.*

username_1's answer already pointed out that 兼 can be replaced by a comma to avoid having a run-on phrase. For example, 中共中央总书记兼国家主席兼中央军委主席习近平 is hard to read, 中共中央总书记、国家主席、中央军委主席习近平 break up this long-phrase neatly, make it easy on the eyes thus easier to read

> *I believe, the word 兼 is used to connect two things that are of the same status or importance*

Typically, the order on a list of titles either 1. from the more prominent to the less prominent 2. following a timeline

Example:

好丈夫兼好父親 - Since one should become a husband before he becomes a father, we list them in this order, and link them with a 兼 (short phrases don't need to be broke up with a comma like the long ones)

店主兼主廚 - The owner appoints the head chef of his restaurant, therefore, 店主 comes first and 主廚 comes second in this phrase. Notice 'Owner' of a restaurant is also the more prominent status than the head chef of a restaurant, it is another reason for 店主 comes before 主廚. And '他是店主兼主廚' is a good example of not replacing 兼 with a comma -- '他是店主、主廚' sounds disjointed

You have to have a 本職 before you can find a 兼職. Therefore, one's 本職 is always listed before his 兼職

From '中共中央总书记兼国家主席兼中央军委主席习近平', we know 中共中央总书记 is the most important title 习近平 currently holds

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: I agree with the order. Though disagree on how it is used in political figures holding multiple positions unless other than the first is an honorary/ceremonial position. But I am not certain about it, so I vote this answer up.  
> **username_0**: One thing interesting I come to know after your explanation is that when 兼 is used the official posts are from the same agency of the government, like in the case of 王毅, because the two titles are both under the control of the State Council, but for the other two examples, the titles are from different agencies. 总书记 is the title of the Party, 国家主席 the title of the State, 中央军委主席 the title of the military.  

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