似懂非懂 Sì Dǒng Fēi Dǒng Half-understand

Explanation

好像懂，又好像不懂，形容理解不透彻。

It seems to understand, but it seems not to understand, describing the incompleteness of understanding.

Origin Story

一位老木匠在教徒弟做木工活儿。他先示范了一遍，做得非常精细，徒弟看得目不转睛。老木匠做完后，让徒弟自己动手做，徒弟照着样子学着做，但他似懂非懂，做得磕磕绊绊，老是出错。老木匠耐心地指导他，一遍遍地纠正他的错误。经过多次练习，徒弟终于掌握了这门手艺，做得越来越好。

yī wèi lǎo mùjiàng zài jiào túdì zuò mùgōng huó'er. tā xiān shìfàn le yībiàn, zuò de fēicháng jīngxì, túdì kàn de mùbù zhuǎnjīng. lǎo mùjiàng zuò wán hòu, ràng túdì zìjǐ dòngshǒu zuò, túdì zhào zhe yàngzi xuézhe zuò, dàn tā sì dǒng fēi dǒng, zuò de kēkē bànbàn, lǎoshì chūcuò. lǎo mùjiàng nàixīn de zhǐdǎo tā, yībiàn biàndi de qiūzhèng tā de cuòwù. jīngguò duō cì liànxí, túdì zhōngyú zhǎngwò le zhè mén shǒuyì, zuò de yuè lái yuè hǎo.

An old carpenter was teaching his apprentice woodworking. He first demonstrated it once, doing it very delicately, and the apprentice watched attentively. After the old carpenter finished, he let the apprentice do it himself. The apprentice learned to do it according to the example, but he was only half-understanding, making mistakes and stumbling along. The old carpenter patiently guided him, correcting his mistakes again and again. After much practice, the apprentice finally mastered the craft and did better and better.

Usage

形容对某事物理解不透彻，似懂非懂。

xióngróng duì mǒu shìwù lǐjiě bù tòuchè, sì dǒng fēi dǒng

It is used to describe that one does not fully understand something, but only half.

Examples

• 小明对老师讲的课似懂非懂。

  xiǎomíng duì lǎoshī jiǎng de kè sì dǒng fēi dǒng

  Xiaoming only half understood the teacher's lesson.

• 听了专家的讲解，我对这个难题似懂非懂。

  tīngle zhuānjiā de jiǎngjiě, wǒ duì zhège nántí sì dǒng fēi dǒng

  After the expert's explanation, I only half understood the difficult problem

Related Idioms

• 一知半解

• 半懂不懂

Opposite Idioms

• 了如指掌

• 熟能生巧