Chinese word

明明

Pronunciation

Pinyinmíng míng

Meaning

  • adverbclearly

Example

他明明知道这件事，却没有说话。tā míng míng zhī dào zhè jiàn shì què méi yǒu shuō huà

He clearly knew about this, but he did not say anything.

Illustration for 明明 (clearly)

More examples

他明明看得出作者的用意。tā míng míng kàn de chū zuò zhě de yòng yì

He can clearly see the author's intention.

Core concept

A plainly visible truth presses into the sentence even when events point elsewhere.

Common phrases

  • 明明看得出míng míng kàn de chū

    clearly see

  • 明明有问题míng míng yǒu wèn tí

    clearly have a problem

Similar words

反而fǎn ér: Signals that events produce the reverse result from the one normally expected.
竟然jìng rán: Marks the unexpected occurrence of a fact or result with a sense of surprise.
居然jū rán: Marks the unexpected occurrence of something with a strong feeling of disbelief or surprise.
偏偏piān piān: Stresses that a particular action or event occurs despite the circumstances pointing elsewhere.

Definition in Chinese

作为副词，表示事实显而易见或被广泛认知，常用于突出事实与实际行为或结论不一致的情况以加强语气。zuò wéi fù cí biǎo shì shì shí xiǎn ér yì jiàn huò bèi guǎng fàn rèn zhī cháng yòng yú tū chū shì shí yǔ shí jì xíng wéi huò jié lùn bù yí zhì de qíng kuàng yǐ jiā qiáng yǔ qì

Word origin

明 (míng, "bright or clear") + 明 (míng, "bright or clear") gives 明明 (míngmíng, "clearly"), with repetition adding strong emphasis to an evident fact.

Usage tips

  • It commonly appears before the main verb and prepares for a later contrast, so its position helps signal that the result does not fit the known facts.

Related words

  • 明明白白míng míng bái báiclearlyadverb

Word lists with this word