I've been struggling for a while with how exactly in Chinese to say "to found". Recently, I learned that 创办 could have that meaning? (I.e. 北大是1898年创办的） - but, I also know that words like 创始 also could mean to found.

If I wanted to say something like "Mark Zuckerburg Founded Facebook" - how would that be translated? Would it use 创办？ Or is that only used for time periods?


創始 is usually used for small shop or brand.

創辦 may used for school or news agency.

創立 would be normally used for a country or more formal organisation.

Usually we won't say some brand was 創立 於 2004. That's too formal.

As for Facebook, you could say "Facebook 於2004年創立 or 成立". I think it depends on how formal the object is in your mind.

  • Could you give an example with 创始？ Also, I'm not sure I understand the difference between 创立 and 创始 then － isn't facebook considered a brand? – Stephen Aug 8 '14 at 3:11
  • 鼎泰豐 創始於 1991年。well, in my opinion 創始 seems to be used to make people think it's an OLD brand or shop with lots of history, probably already found for 20 or 50 yrs. So for Facebook, which is a tech company, I won't use "創始" – Robert Aug 8 '14 at 3:29
  • So 创始 implies that it happened awhile ago, 创立 is for anything large? Could I say "Found a restaurant" ex. 创立这家餐厅 – Stephen Aug 8 '14 at 3:30
  • Actually "創" is for anything large or formal. "創" wants people to believe it's great, magnificent or marvellous like Rome Empire or Great Han dynasty or US. For restaurant we could just say "某餐廳成立於1991年". But if the restaurant is chain restaurants like MacDonald or something like that and you think it's great by its size, you can say "MacDonald創立于xxxx年" – Robert Aug 8 '14 at 3:42
  • If you're interested in what the word 創 means in Chinese, check out here: moedict.tw/%E5%89%B5. There's even pronunciation and how to write the word. – Robert Aug 8 '14 at 6:20

建立 is rather common, 创办 would work too, or why not 创建, or even 成立?




創 means "make something new". 立 means "erect or found" 辦 means "make or do" 始 means "start"

They might mix and emphases on some aspects. 創立 and 創辦 are both right word.

Mark Zuckerburg Founded Facebook Mark Zuckerburg 創立 Facebook

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