Potential complement "-bu dong" for not understanding

Chinese learners often have to express that they don't understand something, especially in the beginning when they start learning. One of the ways to express that is to use the 不懂 (bù dǒng) verb complement.

Structure

Yes, 不懂 (bù dǒng) by itself simply means "not understand," and you can use it this way. But you'll find that more often, it follows a verb. When used this way, it is a complement.

The potential complement 不懂 (bù dǒng) is used to talk about things that can't be understood. Note that this is about potential: the subject doesn't have the ability to understand.

Subj. + Verb + 不懂

The 不懂 (bù dǒng) may also be swapped out with 不明白 (bù míngbai).

Examples

• 我 看 不 懂 这 本 书。Literally, "read-not-understand"Wǒ kàn bu dǒng zhè běn shū.I don't understand the book.
• 孩子们 看 不 懂 你 写 的 汉字。Literally, "read-not-understand"Háizi men kàn bu dǒng nǐ xiě de Hànzì.Kids don't understand the characters that you wrote.
• 你 看 不 懂 我 的 邮件 吗？Literally, "read-not-understand"Nǐ kàn bu dǒng wǒ de yóujiàn ma?Do you not understand my emails?
• 老板 的 中文 说 得 很好，可是 他 看 不 懂 中文 报纸。 Literally, "read-not-understand"Lǎobǎn de Zhōngwén shuō de hěn hǎo, kěshì tā kàn bu dǒng Zhōngwén bàozhǐ.The boss speaks very good Chinese, but he doesn't understand Chinese newspapers.
• 我 听 不 懂 上海话 。 Literally, "hear-not-understand"Wǒ tīng bu dǒng Shànghǎi-huà.I don't understand Shanghai dialect.
• 你们 听 不 懂 我 的 话 吗？Literally, "hear-not-understand"Nǐmen tīng bu dǒng wǒ de huà ma?Do you not understand what I say?
• 我 听 不 懂 你 说 的 英语。 Literally, "hear-not-understand"Wǒ tīng bu dǒng nǐ shuō de Yīngyǔ.I don't understand your English.
• 我们 都 听 不 懂 你 的 意思。 Literally, "hear-not-understand"Wǒmen dōu tīng bu dǒng nǐ de yìsi.None of us understand what you mean.
• 很 多 人 读 不懂 这 本 书 。 Literally, "read-not-understand"Hěn duō rén dú bu dǒng zhè běn shū.Many people don't understand this book.
• 这 个 句子 很 难， 学生们 都 读 不 懂。 Literally, "read-not-understand"Zhège jùzi hěn nán, xuéshengmen dōu dú bu dǒng.This sentence is very difficult. None of the students understand.

See also

• Potential complement "bu xia"
• Positive and negative potential complements

Sources and further reading

Books

• A Practical Chinese Grammar For Foreigners (外国人实用汉语语法) (pp. 242-3, 271 - 329) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Chinese Grammar Without Tears (简明汉语语法学习手册) (pp. Chapter 6: Complements) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 3 (新实用汉语课本3) (pp. 200 - 201) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 2 (新实用汉语课本2) (pp. 87-8) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition (pp. 97-9) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Practicing HSK Grammar (语法精讲精炼) (pp. 186-7) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy

Websites

• Wikipedia: Complement (linguistics)
• Baidu Baike (Chinese): 补语
• Blog entry (Chinese): 状态补语