恢复 vs 还原 (recover vs restore to original)

Back to health, or back to factory settings?

Both mean "restore" — but to different ends.
to reinstate恢复huī fù = recover / return to a (good) state: 恢复健康huī fù jiàn kāng, 恢复正常huī fù zhèng cháng.
to restore to the original…还原huán yuán = restore to the original form / undo: to restore to the original…还原huán yuánthe truth about sth真相zhēn xiàng, (把: marks the object)把bǎdata数据shù jùto restore to the original…还原huán yuán.

he / him他tā很快hěn kuàito reinstate恢复huī fù(completed / change)了lehealth健康jiàn kāng = "he quickly recovered his health."

he他tārecover恢复huī fù了lehealth健康jiàn kāng。

to reinstate恢复huī fù(completed / change)了lehealth健康jiàn kāng = "recovered his health."

Practice

He quickly recovered his health: 他很快 ____ 了健康。

(把: marks the object)把bǎthe scene (of a crime…现场xiàn chǎngto restore to the original…还原huán yuán = "restore the scene to how it was."

把bǎthe truth真相zhēn xiàngrestore还原huán yuán。

(把: marks the object)把bǎthe truth about sth真相zhēn xiàngto restore to the original…还原huán yuán = "restore the truth (to what really happened)."

Explore

恢复 returns something to a good working state; 还原 rebuilds the exact original.

Practice

Which means “recover / return to a good state”?

Practice

还原 means restoring something to how it originally was.

Key idea

to reinstate恢复huī fù = recover / return to a good state: 恢复健康huī fù jiàn kāng, 恢复正常huī fù zhèng cháng
to restore to the original…还原huán yuán = restore to the original form / undo: to restore to the original…还原huán yuánthe truth about sth真相zhēn xiàng
to reinstate恢复huī fù = get better; to restore to the original…还原huán yuán = put back as it was