Home/Taiwanese Mandarin/All pairs/洗手間 vs 卫生间
restroom · Different wording
Different wording The two terms share 间 in their simplified forms but are different words. In Taiwan the standard term is 洗手間; on the Mainland it is 卫生间 - both point at “restroom”.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Education dictionaries record 洗手間、衛生間 for this concept. The Mainland standard is among them - the difference is which form each side makes the default.
洗手間 is L1 vocabulary on the TOCFL 华语八千词 list; 卫生间 is HSK 3 vocabulary on the HSK 3.0 list.
Pair source: LinZi’s curated MOE-vs-HSK comparison table.
| Taiwan · 台灣 | Mainland · 大陆 | |
|---|---|---|
| Written form | 洗手間 | 卫生间 |
| Reading | ㄒㄧˇ ㄕㄡˇ ㄐㄧㄢ xǐ shǒu jiān | wèi shēng jiān ㄨㄟˋ ㄕㄥ ㄐㄧㄢ |
| Senses | toilet; lavatory; washroom | bathroom; toilet; WC |
| Syllabus | TOCFL L1 | HSK 3 |
| MOE records | 洗手間 · 衛生間 | |
| Dictionary | entry → | entry → |
| Audio | ||
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