A2 Intermediate Complements

How to Say “I Can’t Understand” (看不懂, 听不懂)

To say you can’t understand something, Chinese tucks 不懂 (“not-understand”) right after a verb of perception: 看不懂 (can’t make sense of it by reading), 听不懂 (can’t catch it by ear). The verb names HOW you’re receiving it. Flip 不 to 得 for the positive — 看得懂 (“can understand”).

Why this trips learners up

Saying “I don’t understand” is one of the first things every learner needs, and Chinese has a neat way to do it: stick 不懂 (“not-understand”) right after a verb. This is a potential complement — it’s about ability, whether you’re able to make sense of something. The shape is Subject + Verb + 不 + 懂: 我看不懂这本书 (“I can’t make sense of this book”), 我听不懂上海话 (“I can’t understand Shanghainese”).

The clever part is that the verb tells you the channel — how the understanding is (failing to) come through. 看不懂 = you can see the words but can’t make sense of them (reading). 听不懂 = you can hear the sounds but can’t follow them (listening). 读不懂 = you can’t make sense of a text you’re reading through. English just says “I don’t understand” and leaves the channel implied; Chinese makes you pick the right perception verb. (不懂 can also be swapped for 不明白 — 看不明白, 听不明白.)

To say you can understand, swap the 不 for 得: 看得懂 (“can read/understand”), 听得懂 (“can follow”). That one syllable flips the whole meaning — 得 = can, 不 = can’t — and it always sits between the verb and 懂.

The big trap for English (and German, French, Spanish…) speakers: don’t reach for a “can” word. Comprehension ability is baked into 看不懂 itself, so it’s not 不能看懂 or 不会听懂 — just 看不懂, 听不懂. The 不 lives inside, right before 懂, never in front of the verb.

The structure

SubjectVerb 不 bu 懂 dǒng

Colour key

Each colour marks one grammatical role — and the same colour means the same role on every page in the Lab.

Subject Verb Object Complement Time Negation Adverb Function word Adjective Connector Measure word Question

Examples in context

Real-world sentences, easiest first. Toggle pinyin or the translation, tap any word to see its role, or play the audio.

Tap a word to see its grammatical role.

duìbuqǐ 对不起 Adverb wǒ 我 Subject tīng 听 Verb bu 不 Negation dǒng 懂 Complement

Sorry, I can’t follow you (听不懂 on its own).

wǒ 我 Subject kàn 看 Verb bu 不 Negation dǒng 懂 Complement zhège càidān 这个菜单 Object

I can’t read this menu (看不懂 — failing to understand by reading).

lǎoshī shuō de huà 老师说的话 Object wǒ 我 Subject yǒu shíhou 有时候 Time tīng 听 Verb bu 不 Negation dǒng 懂 Complement

Sometimes I can’t understand what the teacher says (听不懂 — by ear).

zhège cí 这个词 Object wǒ 我 Subject kàn 看 Verb de 得 Function word dǒng 懂 Complement

I can read this word (看得懂 — the positive, 得 flips it on).

nǐ 你 Subject tīng 听 Verb de 得 Function word dǒng 懂 Complement guǎngdōng huà 广东话 Object ma 吗 Question

Can you understand Cantonese? (听得懂…吗 — positive question).

zhèxiē zì 这些字 Object wǒ 我 Subject yí gè 一个 Measure word dōu 都 Adverb kàn 看 Verb bu 不 Negation dǒng 懂 Complement

I can’t read a single one of these characters (一个都看不懂).

zhè piān wénzhāng 这篇文章 Subject tài nán 太难 Adjective wǒ 我 Subject dú 读 Verb bu 不 Negation dǒng 懂 Complement

This article is too hard — I can’t make sense of it (读不懂).

zhè bù diànyǐng 这部电影 Subject méiyǒu zìmù 没有字幕 Verb wǒ 我 Subject kàn 看 Verb de 得 Function word dǒng 懂 Complement huàmiàn 画面 Object dànshì 但是 Connector tīng 听 Verb bu 不 Negation dǒng 懂 Complement duìhuà 对话 Object

This film has no subtitles: I can follow the visuals but can’t understand the dialogue (看得懂 + 听不懂 together).

Common mistakes

Avoid: 我不能看懂这本书。 wǒ bù néng kàn dǒng zhè běn shū.

Say this: 我看不懂这本书。 wǒ kàn bu dǒng zhè běn shū.

Why it happens: Comprehension ability is built into the complement, so use 看不懂 / 听不懂 — not 不能看懂 or 不会听懂. 不能/不会 + 懂 sounds wrong to native ears; the “can’t” is already inside the 不懂.

Avoid: 我不看懂这个字。 wǒ bù kàn dǒng zhège zì.

Say this: 我看不懂这个字。 wǒ kàn bu dǒng zhège zì.

Why it happens: The 不 goes INSIDE, between the verb and 懂: 看不懂, not 不看懂. Put 不 in front of the verb (不看懂) and it stops being a potential complement — the inability has to sit right before 懂.

Avoid: 老师说的话我看不懂。 lǎoshī shuō de huà wǒ kàn bu dǒng.

Say this: 老师说的话我听不懂。 lǎoshī shuō de huà wǒ tīng bu dǒng.

Why it happens: Match the verb to the channel. Understanding speech is 听不懂 (by ear); 看不懂 is for reading/seeing. 老师说的话 comes through your ears, so it’s 听不懂, not 看不懂. (A written text you’re reading is 读不懂 or 看不懂.)

Compare & contrast

V得懂 — CAN understand (得)	V不懂 — CAN’T understand (不)	The difference
听得懂tīng de dǒng	听不懂tīng bu dǒng	听得懂 = “can understand (by listening)”; 听不懂 = “can’t.” One syllable — 得 vs 不 — flips it.
看得懂这本书kàn de dǒng zhè běn shū	看不懂这本书kàn bu dǒng zhè běn shū	看得懂这本书 (“can make sense of this book”) vs 看不懂这本书 (“can’t”). The 得 or 不 always sits between the verb and 懂.

Rule of thumbA potential complement turns on one syllable: 得 = can, 不 = can’t. 看得懂 / 看不懂, 听得懂 / 听不懂. The 得 or 不 always sits between the verb and 懂 — never in front of the verb, and never with 能/会.

Try it yourself

Say “I can’t read this character.” — put 不 between the verb and 懂, object last.

Related patterns

Quick reference card

How to Say “I Can’t Understand” (看不懂, 听不懂) grammar.merrymandarin.com

A pocket summary — print it and keep it by your desk.

Structure

Subject + Verb + 不 + 懂

Example

对不起我听不懂

Sorry, I can’t follow you (听不懂 on its own).

Watch out

✗ 我不能看懂这本书。 → ✓ 我看不懂这本书。