🤷❓🔄

How to Say ‘I've never been able to tell them apart’ in Traditional Chinese

我一直分不太清楚

wǒ yì zhí fēn bù tài qīng chǔ

[wǒ yìzhí fēn boo tie qīngchǔ]

💬 Usage Tip: Putting 不 between a verb and its result says you can't manage it: 分清楚 "tell apart clearly" becomes 分不清楚 "can't tell apart". Adding 太 makes it softer, closer to "can't quite". The same pattern works with other verbs, like 聽不清楚 "can't hear clearly".

Phrase Breakdown

我一直

wǒ yì zhí

I have always

我 (wǒ) means 'I'. 一直 (yìzhí) means 'always / all along'. 一 becomes a fourth tone (yì) before the second-tone 直.

Example

我一直很喜歡咖啡。

I've always liked coffee.

Words in this phrase

我

wǒ

[wǒ]

A pronoun referring to oneself.

Example

我是老師。

I am a teacher.

一直

yì zhí

[yìzhí]

always; all along

Describes something continuing over time.

Example

他一直喝美式咖啡。

He has always drunk Americano.

分不太清楚

fēn bù tài qīng chǔ

can't quite tell apart

分 (fēn) means 'to distinguish'. 不太 (bú tài) means 'not quite'. 清楚 (qīngchu) means 'clearly'. 不 becomes a rising tone (bú) before the fourth-tone 太.

Example

這兩個字我分不太清楚。

I can't quite tell these two characters apart.

Words in this phrase

分

fēn

[fēn]

to distinguish; to tell apart

Used in 分清楚 to mean telling things apart.

Example

我分不出這兩杯咖啡。

I can't tell these two coffees apart.

不

bù

[boo]

not; no

不 is a negation word meaning not. It is commonly used before verbs like 吃 to express something someone does not do.

Example

他不吃辣，所以想先告知餐廳。

He doesn’t eat spicy food, so he wants to inform the restaurant first.

太

tài

[tie]

too; very

Used to emphasize degree, often meaning too or extremely.

Example

今天來的人太多了，現場非常熱鬧。

There are too many people here today, and the event is very lively.

清楚

qīng chǔ

[qīngchǔ]

clear

Clear; in 分不清楚 it means unable to tell clearly.

Example

他說得很清楚。

He explained it clearly.

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