Level 5 · Lesson 12

看得见，看不见
Can see, can't see

我听得懂，你听不懂。这本书我买不起。快一点儿，要来不及了！

Slide 得 or 不 into a verb-plus-result to say whether the circumstances let it happen.

听 · Listen

这儿人很多
 安娜 —  李明，你看得见前边吗？ 
Li Ming, can you see the front?  
 李明 —  我看不见。这儿人很多。 
I can't. There are a lot of people here.  
 安娜 —  老师说得很快，我听不懂。 
The teacher is speaking fast — I can't follow.  
 李明 —  我听得懂一点儿，声音不清楚。 
I can follow a bit; the sound isn't clear.  
 安娜 —  我受不了！我们走吧。 
I can't take it! Let's go.  
 李明 —  五点上课，现在四点，还来得及。 
Class is at five, it's four now — there's still time.  
 安娜 —  我想买那本书，我买不起。 
I'd like to buy that book — I can't afford it.  
 李明 —  我们一起看我的书，好吗？ 
Shall we share mine?  

讲解 · Explanation

我听得懂。我听不懂。你看得见吗？——我看不见。

Take a verb and its result — 听懂, 看见 — and open it up. Put 得 inside for 'I manage it', 不 inside for 'I don't'. Both are light and toneless: tīng de dǒng, tīng bu dǒng. This is not 会. 会 is a skill you once learned; 得 and 不 here report what the situation allows — the room is noisy, the person is too far away, the price is too high.

我没有钱，我买不起。现在走，还来得及。快一点儿，要来不及了！

Three of these have hardened into everyday words. 买得起 / 买不起 is about money — whether your pocket reaches the price. 来得及 / 来不及 is about time — whether the clock leaves you enough of it. 受不了 is about your own limit: too loud, too hot, too much. Read its last character as liǎo, not le — shòu bu liǎo.

你听得懂听不懂？你看得见吗？——看不见。

Ask with 吗, or set the positive and the negative side by side: 听得懂听不懂？ In real speech the negative is far commoner than the positive — for 'I got it' a Chinese speaker usually says 我听懂了, and saves 听得懂 for questions and answers. One thing never happens: no 很 goes anywhere near these. 我很听得懂 does not exist.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
买得起	can afford it	negative 买不起 mǎi bu qǐ — about money
来得及	there is still time	还来得及 hái lái de jí
来不及	there isn't enough time	要来不及了！yào lái bu jí le!
受不了	can't stand it	了 here is liǎo, not le
听不懂	can't follow, can't understand	positive 听得懂 tīng de dǒng
看不见	can't see it	positive 看得见 kàn de jiàn

练习 · Practice

老师说得很快，我 ______。 The teacher speaks fast — I can't follow.

这儿人很多，我 ______ 前边。 There are so many people here — I can't see the front.

快一点儿！我们要 ______ 了！ Fill in three characters: we're not going to make it in time.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'I can't afford this book.'

听不懂、看不见、买不起、来不及、受不了 Match each form to what is blocking you.

用一用 · Use it

老师说得很快，我听不懂。这儿人很多，我看不见。这本书我买不起。快一点儿，要来不及了！

Say four complaints aloud, one for each shape. Something you cannot follow: 我听不懂. Something you cannot see: 我看不见. Something too expensive: 我买不起. Something with no time left in it: 要来不及了！ Then ask a friend 你听得懂听不懂？ and answer yourself both ways — 听得懂 and 听不懂 — listening for the light, toneless de and bu in the middle.