Expressing "mistakenly think that" with "yiwei"
We often have mistaken beliefs about various topics. With this article, we learn how to express them in Chinese!
Structure
In English, the verb "to think" can imply that the belief is incorrect, e.g. in "I thought it was legal here." Chinese has a specific verb for this kind of mistaken belief: 以为 (yǐwéi). Literally these two characters mean "take to be," i.e. someone takes one thing to be something else.
Subj. + 以为 ⋯⋯
The phrase will be a whole new statement that is actually incorrect.
Examples
- 我 以为 他 是 英国 人 。I thought he is British.
- 你 以为 只 有 你 知道 ？You think you are the only one who knows?
- 别 以为 你 自己 是 最 聪明 的 。Stop thinking you're the smartest.
- 你 以为 你 是 老大 吗 ？Do you think you are the boss here?
- 很多 人 都 以为 我 二十 几 岁 。Many people thought I'm in my twenties.
- 我 以为 你俩 分手 了 。I thought you two broke up.
- 我们 都 以为 你 生气 了 。I thought her luggage wouldn't be that heavy.
- 你 以为 全 世界 都 跟 你 一样 有钱 ？ You thought .
- 我 以为 你俩 分手 了 。I thought you two broke up.
See also
Sources and further reading
Books
- Short-term Spoken Chinese: Elementary (汉语口语速成基础篇) (pp. 106) →buy
- Contemporary Chinese 4 (当代中文4) (pp. 31) →buy
