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How to Say ‘I don't understand’ in Simplified Chinese

我不明白

wǒ bù míng bái

[waw boo ming bye]

💬 Usage Tip: [不] goes before the verb to make it negative: [我明白] → [我不明白]. You can reuse that pattern with lots of verbs, like [我不去] or [我不要].

Phrase Breakdown

[waw]

I; me

The pronoun for speaking about yourself.

Example

我不知道。

I don't know.

[boo]

not

Negates the word that follows; here it makes 'understand' negative.

Example

我不饿。

I am not hungry.

明白

míng bái

[ming bye]

understand

To understand or comprehend what someone says.

Example

我不明白这个问题。

I don't understand this question.

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