Definition
明明 (míng míng) is an adverb meaning 'obviously, plainly', but with a specific nuance: it emphasizes a contradiction between an obvious fact and someone's actual behavior or belief. Unlike 显然 (xiǎn rán), which simply states that something is evident, 明明 highlights that the obvious truth is being ignored or contradicted (often used with 却 'yet').
adverb
obviouslyplainly (emphasizing a contradiction between obvious facts and actual behavior or beliefs)
Easily confused
- 命名mìng míngsound-aliketo name, to give a name to
Examples
- 明明，？Nǐ míng míng zhīdào dá'àn, wèishénme bù shuō?You obviously know the answer, why don't you say it?
- 明明，。Tā míng míng yǒu zúgòu de shíjiān, què yìzhí tuō dào zuìhòu.He clearly had enough time, had enough time, yet he kept putting it off until the end.
- 明明，？Wǒmen míng míng shuō hǎo le sān diǎn jiànmiàn, tā zěnme hái méi dào?We clearly agreed to meet at three, how come he still hasn't arrived?
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