The highest reward for an instructor is to have helped a student thoroughly understand the material conveyed. There are a number of ways to acknowledge that you have understood a statement or a subject matter. Study the following sentences to get a feel of the different shades of meaning in the various expressions.
懂 (dǒng) means to understand, to have knowledge about a subject, or to know how to do something.
你懂中文吗?
Nǐ dǒng zhōngwén ma?
Do you know the Chinese language?
我懂中文.
Wǒ dǒng zhōngwén.
I know Chinese.
你懂吗?
Nǐ dǒng ma?
Do you understand?
我懂.
Wǒ dǒng.
I understand.
你听得懂吗?
Nǐ tīng de dǒng ma?
Are you able to understand what is being said?
我听得懂.
Wǒ tīng de dǒng.
I am able to understand what is being said.
你懂了吗?
Nǐ dǒng le ma?
Did you get it?
我懂了.
Wǒ dǒng le.
I got it.
The last sentence above indicates a state of completion. Please review the verb tenses in Chapter 15 of “Learn Chinese through Songs and Rhymes“.
了解 (liǎojiě) means to understand or to comprehend completely.
他最了解我.
Tā zuì liǎojiě wǒ.
He understands me the best.
理解 (lǐjiě) means to understand the sense or logic of something. 不能理解 (bùnéng lǐjiě) means unable to make sense of.
我不能理解他的作为.
Wǒ bùnéng lǐjiě tā de zuòwéi.
I cannot understand his conduct.
明白 (míngbai) as an adjective means clear, plain or obvious. As a verb, it means to understand, to know or to realize.
现在我完全明白了.
Xiànzài wǒ wánquán míngbai le.
Now I totally understand.
清楚 (qīngchǔ) means distinct, clear or obvious. As a verb, it means to understand clearly. 弄清楚 (nòng qīngchǔ) or 搞清楚 (gǎo qīngchǔ) is to find out more about something to figure it out.
我搞不清楚他的意思.
Wǒ gǎo bù qīngchǔ tā de yìsī.
I can’t figure out what he means.
知道 (zhīdào) and 晓得 (xiǎodé) both mean to know, to understand, to realize, or to be aware of something.
你知道我的意思吧?
Nǐ zhīdào wǒ de yìsī ba?
You know what I mean, don’t you?
你知道吗? (Nǐ zhīdào ma?) could also be used to start an informal conversation – “You know? Blah, blah, blah.”
Elementary school teachers habitually follow their instructions with 知道吗? (Zhīdào ma? Understand?) and 晓得吧? (Xiǎodé ba? Understand?) We had a family friend who used to be a teacher. He would punctuate every remark with his pet phrase 晓得吧? (Xiǎodé ba?). This made him sound quite presumptuous.
领会 (lǐnghuì) is to understand or grasp the meaning of something.
会意 (huìyì) means to perceive someone’s unspoken thoughts or meaning. 会心 (huìxīn knowing, knowingly) is normally used as an adjective or an adverb.
她给了我一个会心的微笑.
Tā gěi le wǒ yī gè huìxīn de wēixiào.
She gave me a knowing smile.
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