弄清 (nòng qīng) — to clarify; to get a clear understanding of

Definition

弄清 means to figure something out and fully understand it (a cause, a situation, why something happened). It is a result-oriented verb — emphasize the completion (弄清楚了).

verb
to clarifyto get a clear understanding of

Examples

  • 弄清
    Wǒ men bì xū nòng qīng shì shí zhēn xiàng.
    We must clarify the truth of the facts.
  • 弄清
    Tā huā le yí shàng wǔ cái nòng qīng zhè ge wèn tí de yuán yīn.
    He spent the whole morning to finally get a clear idea of the cause of this problem.
  • 弄清
    Nǐ nòng qīng tā wèi shén me chí dào le ma?
    Did you find out why he was late?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

弄 names making, 清 names clear; together they mean make something clear.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The form 弄 combines 玉 (jade) with 廾 (hands), showing hands touching or handling jade.

Open 弄 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
Written in full asshuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
qīngqīng
Same sound today

清 has 氵 (water) on the left and 青 on the right to show its sound.

Open 清 →

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