Level 5 · Lesson 6

我听懂了
I understood

我听懂了。你说清楚了。衣服洗干净了。我写错了。

懂, 清楚, 干净 and 错 as result complements — and 了 goes after the whole pair.

听 · Listen

今天的课
 王老师 —  今天的课，你们听懂了吗？ 
Today's lesson — did you understand it?  
 安娜 —  听懂了。老师，您说清楚了，我都听懂了。 
I did. You explained it clearly, teacher, and I understood all of it.  
 李明 —  老师，请您再说清楚一点儿。 
Teacher, could you say it once more, a bit more clearly?  
 王老师 —  好，我再说一次。……现在呢？ 
All right, I'll say it once more. … And now?  
 李明 —  现在我听懂了！谢谢老师。 
Now I've got it! Thank you, teacher.  
 王老师 —  安娜，你的作业我看了。这里你写错了。 
Anna, I've read your homework. You wrote this bit wrong.  
 安娜 —  啊，真的写错了。我现在就改。 
Oh, I really did write it wrong. I'll fix it right now.  
 王老师 —  好。李明，那几个杯子你洗干净了吗？ 
Good. Li Ming, did you get those cups washed clean?  

讲解 · Explanation

我听。我听懂了。

听 is the effort — you aimed your ears at it. 听懂 is the effort plus its result: it landed, you understood. A verb of trying takes a second word straight after it to say how it came out, and 懂 is one of the commonest: 听懂 (understood by ear), 看懂 (understood by reading). The two words are welded into one verb, so 了 goes after the pair, never between them: 听懂了.

您说清楚了。衣服洗干净了。

A result can also be an adjective. 说清楚 = speak so that the thing ends up clear; 洗干净 = wash so that the thing ends up clean. Notice what the adjective describes: not the way you did it, but the state the thing is in afterwards. This is why 请您说清楚一点儿 is a request about the outcome — make it clearer — and it is one of the most useful sentences in this course.

我写错了。我现在就改。

错 is the result that went wrong: 写错 wrote it wrong, 说错 said the wrong thing, 买错 bought the wrong one. Again the 了 sits at the very end, after both parts. Get into the habit of hearing these pairs as single words — 听懂, 说清楚, 洗干净, 写错 — because from here on, most Chinese verbs you meet will be carrying a result on their back.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
懂	to understand	as a result: 听懂 tīngdǒng, 看懂 kàndǒng
清楚	clear, clearly	说清楚 shuō qīngchu, 写清楚 xiě qīngchu
干净	clean	洗干净 xǐ gānjìng
错	wrong, mistaken	写错 xiěcuò, 说错 shuōcuò
洗	to wash	洗衣服, 洗杯子

练习 · Practice

老师，请您说 ______ 一点儿。 You want the teacher to make it clearer.

我的衣服 ______ 了。 Which one means 'have been washed clean'?

这里我写 ______ 了，我现在就改。 Fill in the result: you wrote it wrong.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'I understood today's lesson.'

懂、清楚、干净、错、洗 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

老师的话我听懂了。您说清楚了。杯子我洗干净了。这里我写错了。

Say four sentences aloud, one for each result. Something you understood: 我听懂了. Something someone made clear: 您说清楚了. Something you washed: 杯子我洗干净了. Something you got wrong: 这里我写错了. Then say the single most useful line in the lesson three times, until it comes out without thinking — 请您说清楚一点儿。