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

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 be swapped out with 不明白 (bù míngbai).

Examples

• 我 看 不 懂 这 本 书。Literally: read-not-understandWǒ kàn bù dǒng zhè běn shū. I don't understand the book.
• 孩子们 看 不 懂 你 写 的 汉字。Literally: read-not-understandHáizi men kàn bù dǒng nǐ xiě de hànzi. Kids don't understand the characters that you wrote.
• 你 看 不 懂 我 的 邮件 吗？Literally: read-not-understandNǐ kàn bù 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-understandLǎobǎn de Zhōngwén shuō de hěn hǎo, kěshì tā kàn bùdǒng 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-understandWǒ tīng bùdǒng Shànghǎi-huà. I don't understand Shanghai dialect.
• 你们 听 不懂 我 的 话 吗？Literally: hear-not-understandNǐmen tīng bù dǒng wǒ de huà ma? Do you not understand what I say?
• 我 听 不 懂 你 说 的 英语。 Literally: hear-not-understandWǒ tīng bù dǒng nǐ shuō de Yīngyǔ. I don't understand the English you speak.
• 我们 都 听 不 懂 你 的 意思。 Literally: hear-not-understandWǒmen tīng bù dǒng nǐ de yìsi. None of us understand what you mean.
• 很 多 人 读 不懂 这 本 书 。 Literally: read-not-understandHěn duō rén dú bùdǒng 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-understandZhè ge jùzi hěn nán, xuéshengmen dōu dú bùdǒng. 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, 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. 87-8) →buy
• Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition (pp. 97-9) →buy
• Practicing HSK Grammar (语法精讲精炼) (pp, 186-7) →buy

Websites

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