Chinese Word-Differences between "gǎn rǎn" 感染 and "chuán rǎn" 传染

With the outbreak of coronavirus, people following the news have probably seen the following words pop up over and over, but may be unsure what the difference is: “感染 (gǎnrǎn)” and “传染 (chuánrǎn)”. Today I’ll tell you how to use them.

感染 (gǎn rǎn):

infection/infect.

(1) Pathological reactions caused by pathogenic microorganisms and parasites invading the body,growing, multiplying, and causing damage to the body.

Example:

轻度感染 (qīng dù gǎnrǎn): mild infection.

(2) Pathogens invade another body through a certain route from the source of infection.

Example:

tā gǎnrǎnle àizī bìngdú.
他感染了艾滋病毒。
He is infected with HIV.

(3) Arouse the same thoughts and feelings of others through language or other forms.

Example:

tā de xiào shēng gǎn rǎn le quán bān tóng xué.
她的笑声感染了全班同学。
She infected the whole class with her laughter.

传染 (chuán rǎn)：

infection/infect/be contagious.

(1) Caused by the spread of the disease

Example:

传染病 (chuánrǎn bìng) ：infectious disease

(2) Refers to the intrusion of pathogens from diseased organisms to other organisms, usually infectious means that the pathogens of infectious diseases can be transmitted from one person to another through a certain route .

Example:

tā bǎ liúgǎn chuánrǎn gěile tóngxué.
他把流感传染给了同学。
He transmitted the flu to his classmates.

(3)Arouse the same thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of others through words or actions.

Example:

tā de kǒng jù yě chuán rǎn gěi le wǒ .
她的恐惧也传染给了我。
I was infected by her fear.

Differences and connections

(1) Both can be used to express resonance through language, words, behaviors, etc.
(2) Both are invaded by pathogens. “感染(gǎn rǎn)” focuses on being directly invaded by pathogens, and “传染 (chuán rǎn)” focuses on pathogens invading from one individual to another.

Common sentence structure:

n.+传染(chuán rǎn)+给了(gěile)+n.
n.+感染 (gǎn rǎn)+了(le)+n.