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How to say “not knowing how to” in Chinese with 不知道

Subj. + 不知道 (bù zhīdào) + Verb Phrase + 好 (hǎo)

不知道 (bù zhī dào) — not knowing how to

HSK 4Basic/Simple Sentence Patterns

Rule structure

好 (hǎo) after a verb in negative or rhetorical questions indicates "know how to do properly". Often appears as Verb + 好 (hǎo) or 怎么 (zěnme) + Verb + 好 (hǎo).

Examples

这件事我不知道怎么办好。

Zhè jiàn shì wǒ bù zhīdào zěnme bàn hǎo.

I don't know what would be best to do about this matter.

她不知道怎么说好。

Tā bù zhīdào zěnme shuōhǎo.

She doesn’t know how to say this properly.

我不知道怎么做饭好。

Wǒ bù zhīdào zěnme zuòfàn hǎo.

I don’t know how to cook food properly.

Practice

Build the sentence

Drag the characters to put them in the correct order

Characters

Words from this rule

不

bù

No, not

知道

zhīdào

To know

好

hǎo

Good, well

这

zhè

This

件

jiàn

(classifier for things, clothing, events)

事

shì

Matter

我

wǒ

I, me

怎么

zěnme

How? in what way?

她

tā

She

说

shuō

To speak, to say, to tell

做饭

zuò fàn

To cook (a meal)

做

zuò

To do, to make, to cook (food)

Frequently asked questions

How do you say “not knowing how to” in Chinese with 不知道?

Use the structure: Subj. + 不知道 (bù zhīdào) + Verb Phrase + 好 (hǎo). For example: 这件事我不知道怎么办好。 — “I don't know what would be best to do about this matter”.

What is an example sentence with this grammar rule?

这件事我不知道怎么办好。 — “I don't know what would be best to do about this matter”.

Which HSK level includes this grammar rule?

This grammar rule is part of HSK 4.

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More HSK 4 grammar rules

倍 — multiples, “times”

A + 是 (shì) + B + 的 (de) + Number + 倍 (bèi)

一点儿也 — not at all

一点儿也 (yīdiǎnr yě) + 不 (bù) / 没 (méi) + Verb / Adj.

连 + noun + 都 — even

连 (lián) + Noun + 都 (dōu) + Verb

对 来说 — for me, in my opinion

对 (duì) + Person + 来说 (láishuō)

全 — whole, entire

全 (quán) + Measure Word + Noun

到 — until (time/place/degree)

Verb + 到 (dào) + Time / Place / Degree

连 + verb — not even

连 (lián) + Verb + 都 (dōu) + 不 (bù) / 没 (méi) + Verb

原来 — it turns out, originally

Subj. + 原来 (yuánlái) + Predicate