听不懂

tīng bù dǒng

Potential complement "-bu dong" for not understanding

懂 as a complement is about comprehension — and 不 in the middle makes it impossible.

Verb + 不懂 / 得懂

How it works

我听不懂 — I can't understand what I'm hearing. 看不懂 is the reading equivalent.

The positive is 听得懂: 我听得懂一点. Note that 不 and 得 slot into the same position.

This is different from 我没听懂, which says you didn't catch it that one time rather than that you can't in general.

Examples

  • wǒ tīng bù dǒng

    我听不懂。

    I can't understand (what I'm hearing).

  • zhè běn shū wǒ kàn bù dǒng

    这本书我看不懂。

    I can't read this book.

  • wǒ tīng dé dǒng yì diǎn

    我听得懂一点。

    I can understand a little.