Discussion of 斟酌

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斟酌 and 考虑 are synonyms and sometimes interchangeable. What are their differences?

1. When we use 斟酌, we are giving something a careful, thorough and long consideration, weighing out the pros and cons, etc. When we use 考虑, it's less careful and less thorough.
For example, 斟酌 sounds better in this sentence below. 再三 indicates that it is a thorough and long consideration:
她斟酌再三，最后决定不去了。 -/- [phr] She thought over it, and finally decided not to go.

2. We use 考虑 when we take something into consideration, start to consider something, or when we bring other people's feelings or opinions into the picture. 斟酌 is not used in this sense. For example, 考虑 sounds better in these sentences:
- 你是不是该考虑戒酒了? r/- [phr] Don't you think you need to quit drinking?
- 你不能为所欲为，要考虑别人的感受。 r/s [phr] You cannot do whatever you want. You should take others' feelings into account.

3. As for frequency, 考虑 appears more frequently both in writing and in daily spoken language, while 斟酌 is used less frequently.

4. 考虑 can be reduplicated as 考虑考虑. 考虑 can also be used with 一下. Reduplicated form 考虑考虑 and 考虑一下 both indicate the action of "considering" is carried out in a casual way. 斟酌 is rarely used in these ways, mainly because, as we mentioned, 斟酌 is "careful and thorough consideration".
5. On the other hand, we often use 反复 or 再三 with 斟酌. We can say 反复斟酌, 再三斟酌 or 斟酌再三. We can also say 反复考虑, 再三考虑 or 考虑再三. In short, 斟酌 can be replaced by 考虑 in most cases, but the other way around it doesn't work (refer to #2).

lisaC

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