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How to say “don't understand” in Chinese with 不懂 (bù dǒng)

Verb + 不懂 (bù dǒng)

不懂 (bù dǒng) — not understanding

HSK 2Complements

Rule structure

懂 (dǒng) means "to understand." Adding the potential infix 得 (de) or 不 (bu) creates potential complements 看得懂 (kàn de dǒng) ("can understand by looking") and 看不懂 (kàn bù dǒng) ("can't understand by looking").

Examples

我听不懂。

Wǒ tīng bù dǒng.

I don't understand by listening.

他听不懂中文。

Tā tīngbùdǒng zhōngwén.

He doesn't understand Chinese.

我看不懂这本书。

Wǒ kànbùdǒng zhè běnshū.

I don't understand this book.

Practice

Build the sentence

Drag the characters to put them in the correct order

Characters

Words from this rule

不

bù

No, not

懂

dǒng

To understand

我

wǒ

I, me

听

tīng

To listen, to hear

他

tā

He

中文

zhōngwén

Chinese language

看

kàn

To look, to watch, to read

这

zhè

This

本

běn

Measure word for books and notebooks; root, origin

书

shū

Book

这个

zhè ge

This, this one

Frequently asked questions

How do you say “not understanding” in Chinese with 不懂?

Use the structure: Verb + 不懂 (bù dǒng). For example: 我听不懂。 — “I don't understand by listening”.

What is an example sentence with this grammar rule?

我听不懂。 — “I don't understand by listening”.

Which HSK level includes this grammar rule?

This grammar rule is part of HSK 2.

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More HSK 2 grammar rules

得 — degree complement

Verb + 得 (de)⋯⋯

到 vs 见 — result complements

Verb + 到 (dào) / 见 (jiàn)

好 / 完 / 错 — result complements

Verb + 好 (hǎo) / 完 (wán) / 错 (cuò)

完 — finishing an action

Verb + 完 (wán) (+ 了 (le))

了 — already done

Subj. + Verb Phrase + 了 (le)

最 — superlative “most”

最 (zuì) + Adj. (+ 了 (le))

到 — direction with “to go to”

到 (dào) + Place + 去 (qù)

虽然 — although… but…

虽然 (suīrán)⋯⋯，但是 (dànshì) / 可是 (kěshì)⋯⋯