误认为 (wù rèn wéi) — to mistakenly believe (that), to wrongly think (that)

Definition

误认为 (wù rèn wéi) is a formal verb meaning 'to mistakenly believe' — a single, fixed predicate that takes a clause as its object (e.g. 我误认为他是老师). Stronger and more written than plain 以为.

verb
to mistakenly believe (that)to wrongly think (that)

Examples

  • 误认为，。
    Wǒ wù rèn wéi tā shì lǎo shī, qí shí tā shì xué shēng.
    I mistakenly thought he was a teacher, but he's actually a student.
  • 误认为，。
    Hěn duō rén wù rèn wéi zhè zhǒng zuò fǎ shì zhèng què de, shí jì shang bìng bú duì.
    Many people wrongly think this practice is correct, but it's actually not.
  • 误认为，。
    Tā wù rèn wéi zhè jiàn shì hěn róng yì, jié guǒ huā le hěn duō shí jiān.
    He mistakenly thought this would be easy, but ended up spending a lot of time.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

误wùmistakenly
认为regard as
认rènrecognize为wèiconsider
联合Side by side

误 gives 'mistakenly' while 认为 gives 'regard as', together expressing a wrong belief.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 誤; 误 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech
Sound part声符shēngfú
吳
吳wú誤wù
Same sound today

The traditional form 誤 uses 言 (speech) for meaning and 吳 for sound, giving the idea of speaking an error; the simplified 误 is a later shorthand.

Open 误 →

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
讠Written in full as言yánspeech
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén认rèn
Same sound today

The left part 讠 shows speech, and the right part 人 gives the sound.

Open 认 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 為; 为 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 為 showed a hand holding an elephant; the simplified 为 is a later shorthand.

Open 为 →

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