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.
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.
Structure: Subj. + Verb + 不懂
The 不懂 (bù dǒng) may also be swapped out with 不明白 (bù míngbai).
Examples:
我看不懂这本书。(wǒ kàn bu dǒng zhè běn shū) = I don’t understand the book.
孩子们看不懂你写的汉字。(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？(nǐ kàn bu dǒng wǒ de yóujiàn ma) = Do you not understand my emails?
我听不懂上海话。 (wǒ tīng bu dǒng Shànghǎi-huà) = I don’t understand Shanghai dialect.
你们听不懂我的话吗？(nǐmen tīng bu dǒng wǒ de huà ma) = Do you not understand what I say?
我听不懂你说的英语。 (wǒ tīng bu dǒng nǐ shuō de Yīngyǔ) = I don’t understand your English.
我们都听不懂你的意思。(wǒmen dōu tīng bu dǒng nǐ de yìsi) = None of us understand what you mean.
很多人读不懂这本书。(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。(zhège jùzi hěn nán, xuéshengmen dōu dú bu dǒng) = This sentence is very difficult. None of the students understand.
Post time: Jun-26-2020