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

In the examples below, 搞不懂 (gǎo bùdǒng) is a colloquial expression meaning "cannot figure out."

• 你 看 不 懂 这 些 汉字 吗？Literally: read-not-understandNǐ kàn bùdǒng zhè xiē hànzì ma? Do you not understand these characters?
• 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.
• 你 怎么 总是 听 不懂 我 的 话？Literally: hear-not-understandNǐ zěnme zǒngshì tīng bùdǒng wǒ de huà? How could you always not understand what I say?
• 我 听 不懂 上海话 。 Literally: hear-not-understandWǒ tīng bùdǒng Shànghǎi-huà. I don't understand Shanghai dialect.
• 我 小 时候，常常 听 不 懂 大人 在 说 什么。 Literally: hear-not-understandWǒ xiǎo shíhou, chángcháng tīng bùdǒng dàrén zài shuō shénme. When I was young, I often didn't understand what adults talked about.
• 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.
• 我们 都 搞 不 懂 她 为什么 这样 做。Literally: make-not-understandWǒmen dōu gǎo bù dǒng tā wèishénme zhèyàng zuò. None of us can figure out why she did this.
• 父母 常常 搞 不 懂 孩子 在 想 什么。 Literally: make-not-understandFùmǔ chángcháng gǎo bùdǒng háizi zài xiǎng shénme. Parents often can't figure out what their kids are thinking.
• 我 真 搞 不懂 你 怎么 会 跟 那 种 人 在 一起？ Literally: make-not-understandWǒ zhēn gǎo bùdǒng nǐ zěnme huì gēn nà zhǒng rén zài yīqǐ?I really can't figure out why you would be with that kind of person.

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