Georgie And I'm Georgie. We've got a great question from one of our listeners:
Question I would like to know the difference between 'happy', 'joyful', 'blissful', and 'cheerful', and the corresponding nouns 'happiness', 'joy', 'bliss', and 'cheerfulness'.
Georgie Jiaying. You're looking very cheerful! Why is that? Did you have a good holiday?
Jiaying Actually, yes. 我刚休假回来,我去了英国乡村放松身心,呼吸新鲜空气,还读了几本好书。It was pure bliss! 真是太幸福了!
Georgie That sounds wonderful. The adjectives 'joyful', 'blissful' and 'cheerful' and their corresponding nouns are all synonyms for 'happy' and 'happiness'. They all relate to positive emotions or states that a person experiences.
Jiaying 没错,形容词 “joyful、blissful” 和 “cheerful” 和它们各自对应的名词都是 “happy” 和 “happiness” 的近义词。Georgie, you said I looked 'cheerful'.
Georgie Yes, and that's a clue because 'cheerful' means noticeably happy and optimistic. If a person is cheerful, they might have a smile on their face and have a good, positive attitude. Cheerfulness is the mood of feeling cheerful.
Georgie 'Blissful', the adjective, describes the feeling. I bet you felt very blissful reading your book and relaxing outside of the city.
Jiaying I did! 名词 “bliss” 的形容词形式 “blissful” 就用来描述某人是 “非常幸福的”。来听两个例句。
Examples We spent a week by the beach, enjoying each other's company in total bliss. (我们在海边呆了一个星期,享受着彼此的陪伴,无比幸福。)
After a long day at work, it felt blissful to finally lie in my warm and comfy bed. (在漫长的一天工作后,我终于躺在了温暖舒适的床上,感觉非常幸福。)
Georgie Now, the nouns 'happiness' and 'joy' and their corresponding adjectives 'happy' and 'joyful' are often used interchangeably, but can you help us with their subtle differences, Jiaying?
Georgie Unlike 'happiness', 'joy' can also be used as a countable noun to mean a person or thing that causes happiness. Something or someone can be 'a joy'.
Georgie Remember, if you have a question about the English language you'd like to ask us, please send us an email. Our email address is: questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk