1-Minute Chinese: 穿 or 戴

Do you know how to say "to wear" or "to put on" in Chinese?

Some people would say it's 穿 (chuān), others would say it's 戴 (dài). Which one is correct?

In today's article, we are going to discover what differences between these two verbs are - and how to use them correctly.

穿 [chuān]

穿 [chuān] is commonly used with clothes, something that we have to wear.

It might be a T-shirt, a coat, a pair of trousers, etc.

戴 [dài]

戴 [dài] is commonly used with accessories. You'll be fine if you don't wear them.

It might be a pair of sunglasses, a watch, a ring, etc.

Example

这几天天气突然变冷了，我男朋友非常关心我，所以他给我发微信说："你出门的时候一定要多穿点儿衣服，当然也别忘了戴手套、帽子和围巾，千万别感冒了哦!"
Zhè jǐ tiān tiān qì tū rán biàn lěng le, wǒ nán péng you fēi cháng guān xīn wǒ, suǒ yǐ tā gěi wǒ fā Wēi xìn shuō: "Nǐ chū mén de shí hou yī dìng yào duō chuān diǎnr yī fu, dāng rán yě bié wàng le dài shǒu tào, mào zi hé wéi jīn, qiān wàn bié gǎn mào le ó!"

In the past few days the weather suddenly got cold, and my boyfriend really cares about me, so he texted me saying: "When you go out, make sure you wear some more layers. Don't forget to wear a pair of gloves, a hat, and a scarf. Don't catch a cold!"

Important note: even though socks (袜子 wà zi) are considered to be small objects (accessories), the word 穿 (chuān) is still used to say "to wear socks".

Source: That's Mandarin
Editor: wanan