141 I Got It

Charlie Hoffs, from the USA, learnt Chinese through self-study in just a few years. She shares the story of how she chose a Chinese name for herself, based on three of her favorite characters, which include 明, which is also a part of the word for ”understand” 明白.

So when you’re conversing with a Chinese speaker, how do you let them know that you understand, or perhaps even more importantly, that you don’t understand what they’ve just told you?

”To understand” 明白 in made up of 明 ”bright” and 白 ”white,” which means that when something is bright white, then it’s clear and you understand. Adding the negative character 不 will negate the meaning to 不明白 ”don’t understand.”

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I got it.
我明白
wǒ míng bái
Bright, clarity
míng
White
bái
River
jiāng
I understood.
我明白了
wǒ míng bái le
Don't understand.
不明白
bù míng bái
I don't understand.
我不明白
wǒ bù míng bái
You don't understand me.
你不明白我
nǐ bù míng bái wǒ
Do you understand or not?
你明不明白?
nǐ míng bù míng bái

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