Chinese learners often have to express that they don't understand something, especially in the beginning when they start learning. One of the ways to express that is to use the 不懂 (bù dǒng) verb complement.

Structure

Yes, 不懂 (bù dǒng) by itself simply means "not understand," and you can use it this way. But you'll find that more often, it follows a verb. When used this way, it is a complement.

The potential complement 不懂 (bù dǒng) is used to talk about things that can't be understood. Note that this is about potential: the subject doesn't have the ability to understand.

Examples

我看 不懂 这本书。Literally, "read-not-understand"Wǒ kàn bu dǒng zhè běn shū.I don't understand the book.
孩子们看 不懂 你写的汉字。Literally, "read-not-understand"Háizi men kàn bu dǒng nǐ xiě de Hànzì.Kids don't understand the characters that you wrote.
你看 不懂 我的邮件吗？Literally, "read-not-understand"Nǐ kàn bu dǒng wǒ de yóujiàn ma?Do you not understand my emails?
老板的中文说得很好，可是他看 不懂 中文报纸。 Literally, "read-not-understand"Lǎobǎn de Zhōngwén shuō de hěn hǎo, kěshì tā kàn bu dǒng Zhōngwén bàozhǐ.The boss speaks very good Chinese, but he doesn't understand Chinese newspapers.
我听 不懂 上海话。 Literally, "hear-not-understand"Wǒ tīng bu dǒng Shànghǎi-huà.I don't understand Shanghai dialect.
你们听 不懂 我的话吗？Literally, "hear-not-understand"Nǐmen tīng bu dǒng wǒ de huà ma?Do you not understand what I say?
我听 不懂 你说的英语。 Literally, "hear-not-understand"Wǒ tīng bu dǒng nǐ shuō de Yīngyǔ.I don't understand your English.
我们都听 不懂 你的意思。 Literally, "hear-not-understand"Wǒmen dōu tīng bu dǒng nǐ de yìsi.None of us understand what you mean.
很多人读不懂这本书。 Literally, "read-not-understand"Hěn duō rén dú bu dǒng zhè běn shū.Many people don't understand this book.
这个句子很难，学生们都读 不懂。 Literally, "read-not-understand"Zhège jùzi hěn nán, xuéshengmen dōu dú bu dǒng.This sentence is very difficult. None of the students understand.

Structure

Examples

See also

Sources and further reading

Books

Websites