Chinese word

听错

Pronunciation

Pinyintīng cuò

Meaning

  • verbmishear

Example

刚才我听错了。gāng cái wǒ tīng cuò le

I misheard just now.

Illustration for 听错 (mishear)

More examples

你说的是三还是四？我可能听错了。nǐ shuō de shì sān hái shì sì wǒ kě néng tīng cuò le

Did you say three or four? I may have misheard.

Core concept

The ears take in one message, but the mind matches it to a different one.

Common phrases

  • 听错了tīng cuò le

    mishear

  • 没听错méi tīng cuò

    not mishear

Similar words

听成tīng chéng: Understand a heard word or phrase as a different one.
听不清楚tīng bù qīng chǔ: Find speech too unclear to identify the words or message.
听不懂tīng bù dǒng: Understand little or nothing of the meaning of spoken language.

Definition in Chinese

听到的信息与说话者实际所说不一致，用来表示听出了差错或把话听成别的内容。tīng dào de xìn xī yǔ shuō huà zhě shí jì suǒ shuō bù yí zhì yòng lái biǎo shì tīng chū le chā cuò huò bǎ huà tīng chéng bié de nèi róng

Word origin

听 (tīng, "hear") + 错 (cuò, "wrong") combines hearing with being wrong, so the word marks an error in the message received.

Usage tips

  • In everyday conversation, 听错了 (tīngcuò le, "misheard") is a quick way to admit a listening mistake, while 听成 (tīngchéng, "hear as") introduces the version that was understood.

Opposites

Word lists with this word