Chinese word

明白

Pronunciation

Pinyinmíng bái

Meaning

  • verbunderstand

Example

我不太明白你的意思。wǒ bú tài míng bái nǐ de yì si

I don't quite understand what you mean.

Illustration for 明白 (understand)

More examples

老师用例子让学生很快明白。lǎo shī yòng lì zi ràng xué shēng hěn kuài míng bái

The teacher used examples to help the students understand quickly.

Core concept

A thought comes into bright focus, with no confusing part left in the way.

Common phrases

  • 让他明白ràng tā míng bái

    make him understand

  • 说得明白shuō de míng bái

    explain clearly

  • 明白了吗míng bái le ma

    Do you understand

Similar words

懂dǒng: Understanding the meaning of words, speech, or a topic.
知道zhī dào: Being aware of a fact or having information about something.

Definition in Chinese

表示事物清楚、没有含糊，也可作动词表示理解。biǎo shì shì wù qīng chǔ méi yǒu hán hú yě kě zuò dòng cí biǎo shì lí jiě

Word origin

明 (míng, "bright") + 白 (bái, "white") combine the ideas of light and a clean surface, giving the word its sense of something plain to see and therefore easy to grasp.

Usage tips

  • The same word can describe a clear explanation or show that a listener has understood it, while English usually chooses different wording for these two uses.

Other meanings

  • clearadjective

Word lists with this word