míng bai
to understand
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我明白了。
wǒ míngbái le.
I understand.
你明白吗？
nǐ míngbái ma?
Do you understand?
我不明白。
wǒ bù míngbái.
I don't understand.
清楚 (qīngchu)
clear
了解 (liǎojiě)
understand
知道 (zhīdào)
know
糊涂 (hútu)
confused
不明白 (bù míngbái)
don't understand
The Chinese word 明白 (míngbái) is composed of two characters: 明 (míng) and 白 (bái). The character 明 originally meant "bright" or "clear", and was often used to describe the sun or the moon. Over time, it came to be used more figuratively to mean "understand" or "comprehend". The character 白 originally meant "white", but was also used to mean "clear" or "distinct". When combined, the two characters 明白 literally mean "bright white", which can be interpreted as "clear and understandable". In modern Chinese, 明白 is commonly used as a verb meaning "to understand" or "to be clear", and can also be used as an adjective meaning "clear" or "obvious".
