| Subject | English | Chinese |
| gen. | scratch the surface | 没有深人讨论 (of M, M) |
| scient. | scratch the surface | of对…作肤浅的探讨 |
| gen. | scratch the surface | 接触到 M 的皮毛 (of M) |
| gen. | scratch the surface in | 在做…方面只是接触到一点皮毛 (+ ing) |
| gen. | scratch the surface in + ing | 肤浅地做 |
| econ. | scratch the surface of | 刮擦某物表面 (sth.) |