Potential complement "-bu dong" for not understanding

Structure

The potential complement 不懂 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. The structure is:

Subject + Perception verb + 不懂

Examples

• 我 看 不懂 中文 的 报纸。
• 我 听 不懂 南方人 说 的 话。
• 很 多 人 看 不懂 古代 汉语。

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 - 243, pp. 271 - 329) →buy
• Chinese Grammar Without Tears (简明汉语语法学习手册) (Chapter 6: Complements) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 3 (新实用汉语课本3) (pp. 200 - 201) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 2 (新实用汉语课本2) (pp. 87 - 88) →buy
• Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition (pp. 97-9) →buy
• Practicing HSK Grammar (语法精讲精炼) (pp, 186-187) →buy

Websites

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