Chinese word

听不懂

Pronunciation

Pinyintīng bù dǒng

Meaning

  • verbcan't understand

Example

我听不懂他的普通话。wǒ tīng bù dǒng tā de pǔ tōng huà

I can't understand his Mandarin.

Illustration for 听不懂 (can't understand)

More examples

在中国旅行时，我常常听不懂中文。zài zhōng guó lǚ xíng shí wǒ cháng cháng tīng bù dǒng zhōng wén

When traveling in China, I often can't understand Chinese.

Core concept

Words arrive as sound without forming a clear message.

Common phrases

  • 听不懂中文tīng bù dǒng zhōng wén

    can't understand Chinese

  • 听不懂别人的话tīng bù dǒng bié rén de huà

    can't understand other people's words

  • 听不懂电视里的对话tīng bù dǒng diàn shì lǐ de duì huà

    can't understand conversations on TV

Similar words

听不清tīng bù qīng: Not hearing speech clearly enough to identify the words because of unclear sound or background noise.
听不明白tīng bù míng bái: Not understanding the meaning of heard words or the point of what someone explains.
听不见tīng bú jiàn: Not being able to hear the sound itself, leaving no spoken content to take in.

Definition in Chinese

对口语信息无法把声音转换成意义，常用于表示对某种语言、方言或说话方式听不明白。duì kóu yǔ xìn xī wú fǎ bǎ shēng yīn zhuǎn huàn chéng yì yì cháng yòng yú biǎo shì duì móu zhǒng yǔ yán fāng yán huò shuō huà fāng shì tīng bù míng bái

Word origin

听不懂 (tīngbùdǒng, "cannot understand by listening") is built from 听 (tīng, "listen"), 不 (bù, "not"), and 懂 (dǒng, "understand"), giving the direct sense of listening without understanding.

Usage tips

  • English often uses hear for both receiving sound and understanding speech, while this Chinese expression keeps the two ideas distinct.

Other meanings

  • can't make outverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word