How to use 关于 (guānyú) and 对于 (duìyú) correctly in Chinese
The words 关于 (guānyú) and 对于 (duìyú) are both prepositions in Chinese grammar, and can both be used to express “about” or “regarding”. Here’s how to use them correctly for different purposes.
关于 (guānyú): “about” / scoping
关于 is often equivalent to “about” in English. It’s a preposition, which means that it is used to mark the role of another word in a sentence. Like 对于, described below, it can also mean “regarding” or “concerning”.
Using 关于 to mark a topic
关于 can be placed before the topic of a Chinese sentence to introduce it and mark it as the topic.
Some examples:
Note how each of these sentences has the same structure:
关于 introduces the topic first in the same way that “regarding” might be used in more formal English. The comment or question about the topic then comes afterward.
Using 关于 with the object
关于 can also be used with the object of the sentence to add some information about it.
The general structure for this is 关于___的___. Optionally, 有 (yǒu) can be added in front: 有关于___的___. The whole unit can then be used as the object of a sentence.
Some examples:
Notice how in each sentence, 关于 or 有关于 is used to attach extra information to the object. The sentences would still work without this extra information added via 关于.
E.g.,
This is a valid sentence on its own. The “关于旅游的” part is used to attach extra information to the object.
对于 (duìyú): “regarding” / transposition
对于 can also mean “regarding” or “concerning”. Unlike 关于, it can also be equivalent to “as far as” in English.
对于 is used to transpose the object of a sentence. This means that it can move the object closer to the beginning of the sentence, to make the topic clearer.
Using 对于 with the subject
对于[topic]来说
对于 can also be combined with 来说 (lái shuō) in this structure: “对于[topic]来说，[comment]”. This emphasises the sense of “as far as [topic] is concerned, [comment]”.
Some examples:
Using 对于 with any noun
Similarly to 关于, 对于 can also be combined with a noun to attach more information to it and make a more complex noun phrase. The structure for this is “对于___的___”.
Some examples:
关于 vs 对于 summary
关于 and 对于 can both express senses of “about”, “regarding” or “concerning”. 关于 is most often equivalent to “about” in English, whilst 对于 is more equivalent to “concerning”.
As always, try to focus on example sentences and getting more Chinese input to build a natural sense of how to use these words.