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明知 (míng zhī) — to know perfectly well, to be fully aware (of something negative or contrary to one's actions)

Definition

明知 means 'to know perfectly well' — used when the speaker condemns someone for acting against their own knowledge (often followed by 故犯). Carries strong moral judgment; neutral 知道 is just 'to know'.

verb
to know perfectly wellto be fully aware (of something negative or contrary to one's actions)

Examples

  • 明知，。
    Tā míng zhī xī yān duì shēn tǐ bù hǎo, què hái shì jiè bú diào.
    He knows perfectly well that smoking is bad for his health, but still can't quit.
  • 明知，？
    Nǐ míng zhī zhè yàng zuò bú duì, wèi shén me hái yào zuò?
    You know very well that doing this is wrong, so why are you still doing it?
  • 明知，。
    Tā míng zhī zì jǐ méi zhǔn bèi hǎo, què réng rán cān jiā le bǐ sài.
    She was fully aware that she wasn't prepared, but still participated in the competition.

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.

明míngclearly
知zhīknow

明 “clearly” and 知 “know” build the sense of knowing something clearly.

Characters in this word

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

明 combines 日 (sun) and 月 (moon), showing the sun just rising while the moon has not yet set, or two bright objects in the sky, to express brightness.

Open 明 →

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

An early form of 知 showed 大 (adult), 口 (mouth), and 子 (child): an adult speaking to a child to pass on knowledge. The 子 part was dropped, and the 大 part changed shape.

Open 知 →
Appears in
Thinking & Cognition

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