V+明

Make It Clear

Level 2Sounds Like ming4

Attach 明 (ming4) directly to verbs like 聽 (listen), 睇 (read/look), 講 (speak), or 寫 (write) to show the result of clear comprehension or explicit instruction. Insert 得 (dak1) or 唔 (m4) between the verb and 明 to express 'can' or 'cannot' understand or make clear.

How It Works

1. Resultative Complements with 明 (ming4)
In Cantonese, resultative complements attach directly to an action verb to describe its outcome. The character 明 (ming4) means 'clear' or 'understood'. When paired with a verb, it indicates that clarity or mental comprehension is achieved through that action.

2. Intake vs. Output Verb Distinction
The target pattern behaves differently depending on whether information is being received or delivered:

  • Perception / Intake Verbs (聽, 睇, 諗): Refers to the subject's comprehension. For example, 睇明 (tai2 ming4) means reading and understanding the material.
  • Expression / Output Verbs (講, 寫): Refers to making something clear to others. For example, 講明 (gong2 ming4) means to state something explicitly or stipulate terms beforehand.

3. Potential Forms: 得 (dak1) and 唔 (m4)
To express ability or inability to understand, place 得 (dak1, able) or 唔 (m4, unable) directly inside the compound:

  • 聽得明 (teng1 dak1 ming4) = able to understand by listening
  • 聽唔明 (teng1 m4 ming4) = unable to understand by listening

Note that placing 唔 before the verb (e.g., ❌ 唔聽明) is ungrammatical.

4. Distinguishing V+明 from V+到
It is important not to confuse 聽得明 (teng1 dak1 ming4) with 聽到 (teng1 dou2). 聽到 refers to physical perception (picking up the sound with your ears), whereas 聽得明 refers to cognitive comprehension. You can physical hear a foreign language spoken (聽到) without understanding its meaning (聽唔明).

Examples (4)

  1. 你講得太快，我聽唔明。

    You speak too fast; I can't understand what I'm hearing.

    Word by Word: You speak degree too fast, I listen not clear.

    The infix 唔 (m4) is placed between 聽 (listen) and 明 (clear) to express inability to comprehend what is heard.

  2. 呢本廣東話書寫得好清楚，我睇得明。

    This Cantonese book is written very clearly; I can understand it by reading.

    Word by Word: This classifier Cantonese book write degree very clear, I read can clear.

    The potential infix 得 (dak1) is inserted inside 睇明 to show ability to comprehend written Cantonese.

  3. 我已經同佢講明，今晚我唔會去。

    I have already made it clear to him that I won't go tonight.

    Word by Word: I already with him speak clear, tonight I not will go.

    When combined with the output verb 講 (speak), 明 means making an issue explicit or clarifying terms to someone else.

  4. 呢個問題我諗咗好耐都諗唔明。

    I have thought about this problem for a long time, but I still can't figure it out.

    Word by Word: This classifier problem I think perfective very long also think not clear.

    Attaching 明 to the cognitive verb 諗 (think) expresses understanding a problem through mental effort.

Common Mistakes

  • Thinking 懂 (dung2) cannot be used for understanding speech.

    Different Meaning我聽唔懂你講乜嘢。
    我聽唔明你講乜嘢。

    Both 聽唔懂 and 聽唔明 are used in spoken Cantonese. 聽唔明 is the form this pattern teaches, and 懂 (dung2) is also common, especially for languages and skills.

  • Placing the negation particle 唔 (m4) before the verb instead of inside the compound.

    呢篇法文文章我唔睇明。
    呢篇法文文章我睇唔明。

    In potential resultative structures, potential markers (得/唔) must be placed between the primary verb and the resultative complement.

  • Using V+到 (dou2) to express cognitive understanding instead of physical perception.

    你講嗰句廣東話我聽到。
    你講嗰句廣東話我聽得明。

    聽到 (teng1 dou2) only indicates that sound reached your ears. To indicate that you processed and understood the meaning, use 聽得明 (teng1 dak1 ming4).

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

V+明Level 2Make It Clear

Learn This First

To understand 'V+明', a learner needs to be familiar with the concept of resultative verb compounds in Cantonese, where a second word is added to a verb to indicate the outcome of an action. Specifically, '明' indicates that the action (like listening or reading) resulted in understanding or clarity.

Words in This Pattern