清楚 (qīngchu, "clear, distinct") teaches an important lesson about resultative complements: they are not restricted to single characters. The one-syllable results like 完, 懂, 到 get all the attention, but a two-syllable adjective like 清楚 slots into exactly the same position and does exactly the same job — it names the state the action achieves. 看清楚 = "see, and the result is clear vision"; 说清楚 = "speak, and the result is clarity." The pattern was never about word length; it was always about result. Once you see that, other two-syllable states — 干净 (clean), 明白 (clear/understood) — fall into place the same way.
清楚 as the result "clearly, distinctly"
Attach 清楚 after a verb of perceiving or producing, and it says the outcome was clear — sharp enough to make out, or plain enough to follow:
| Verb + 清楚 | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 看清楚 | kàn qīngchu | see clearly / get a clear look |
| 听清楚 | tīng qīngchu | hear clearly / catch every word |
| 说清楚 | shuō qīngchu | say / explain clearly |
| 写清楚 | xiě qīngchu | write legibly |
我没看清楚车牌号。
wǒ méi kàn qīngchu chēpái hào
I didn't get a clear look at the licence plate. (neutral) — 看清楚 = clear enough to read.
请你说清楚一点儿，我没听明白。
qǐng nǐ shuō qīngchu yìdiǎnr, wǒ méi tīng míngbai
Please say it a bit more clearly — I didn't quite follow. (informal) — 说清楚 = make it clear.
表格请填清楚，字要写清楚。
biǎogé qǐng tián qīngchu, zì yào xiě qīngchu
Please fill out the form clearly, and write legibly. (neutral) — 填清楚, 写清楚 for legible output.
The abstract sense: making a matter clear
Beyond literal sharpness, 说清楚 and 写清楚 extend to clearing up a matter — laying something out so there's no confusion left. This is where 清楚 does a lot of everyday work.
这件事你得跟他说清楚。
zhè jiàn shì nǐ děi gēn tā shuō qīngchu
You need to make this completely clear to him. (informal) — 说清楚 = spell it out unambiguously.
我把话说清楚了，你自己决定。
wǒ bǎ huà shuō qīngchu le, nǐ zìjǐ juédìng
I've made myself clear — it's your decision. (neutral) — 把 + 说清楚 for laying it out fully.
Result after the verb, not manner before it
English speakers instinctively want to put "clearly" before the verb, as an adverb: "please clearly explain." Chinese has a pre-verbal manner slot too (清楚地说), but it describes the manner in which you speak, not the result that it comes out clear. When you mean the outcome — that the listener actually got a clear signal — the natural choice is the post-verbal resultative 说清楚. For a resultative page's purposes: put 清楚 after the verb.
我听清楚了他说的每个字，但是没听懂是什么意思。
wǒ tīng qīngchu le tā shuō de měi ge zì, dànshì méi tīng dǒng shì shénme yìsi
I heard every word he said clearly, but I didn't understand what it meant. (neutral) — 听清楚 (clear sound) vs 听懂 (grasped meaning).
The contrast in that sentence is the one to internalise: 听清楚 is about the signal getting through cleanly; 听懂 is about the meaning landing. You can hear every syllable clearly (听清楚) and still not understand a word (没听懂).
The potential form: 看得清楚 / 看不清楚
清楚 feeds straight into the potential. Slot 得/不 between the verb and 清楚 to talk about capacity: 看得清楚 (can see clearly) / 看不清楚 (can't), 听得清楚 / 听不清楚.
黑板上的字太小，后面的同学看不清楚。
hēibǎn shang de zì tài xiǎo, hòumiàn de tóngxué kàn bu qīngchu
The words on the board are too small — students at the back can't see them clearly. (neutral) — 看不清楚 = can't make them out.
戴上眼镜就看得清楚了。
dài shàng yǎnjìng jiù kàn de qīngchu le
Once I put my glasses on I can see clearly. (informal) — 看得清楚 = able to see clearly.
电话里信号不好，我听不清楚你说什么。
diànhuà li xìnhào bù hǎo, wǒ tīng bu qīngchu nǐ shuō shénme
The signal on the phone is bad — I can't hear what you're saying clearly. (informal) — 听不清楚 = can't catch it.
Negation: 没 for the completed sense
The completed failure — "I didn't see/hear it clearly (this time)" — is 没, never 不: 没看清楚, 没听清楚. Keep this apart from the potential 看不清楚 ("can't see clearly").
手机屏幕碎了，我看不清楚上面的字，刚才也没看清楚发信人。
shǒujī píngmù suì le, wǒ kàn bu qīngchu shàngmiàn de zì, gāngcái yě méi kàn qīngchu fāxìnrén
My phone screen is cracked — I can't read the text on it, and just now I didn't get a clear look at the sender either. (informal) — 看不清楚 (can't) vs 没看清楚 (didn't).
Common Mistakes
1. Forcing 清楚 into a pre-verbal adverb. For the result "so it's clear," the natural form is the post-verbal 说清楚.
❌ 请你清楚地看这张照片。
Marginal — this describes manner; for 'get a clear look at it' the resultative is 看清楚.
✅ 请你看清楚这张照片。
qǐng nǐ kàn qīngchu zhè zhāng zhàopiàn
Please take a clear look at this photo. (neutral) — 看清楚 for the clear-perception result.
2. Negating the completed sense with 不. "Didn't hear it clearly" is 没听清楚, not 不听清楚.
❌ 我不听清楚你的名字。
Incorrect — for 'I didn't catch your name clearly', use 没听清楚.
✅ 我没听清楚你的名字。
wǒ méi tīng qīngchu nǐ de míngzi
I didn't catch your name clearly. (informal) — 没听清楚 for the completed failure.
3. Confusing 没看清楚 with 看不清楚. 没看清楚 = "didn't see clearly this time"; 看不清楚 = "can't see clearly (blocked/too far)."
✅ 灯太暗，我看不清楚，所以没看清楚他的脸。
dēng tài àn, wǒ kàn bu qīngchu, suǒyǐ méi kàn qīngchu tā de liǎn
The light was too dim, I couldn't see well, so I didn't get a clear look at his face. (informal) — 看不清楚 (can't) → 没看清楚 (didn't).
4. Using 听懂 when the problem is the signal, not the meaning. Noise blocks 清楚, not 懂.
❌ 太吵了，我没听懂你说什么。
Wrong reason — noise stops you hearing clearly, not from understanding; use 没听清楚.
✅ 太吵了，我没听清楚你说什么。
tài chǎo le, wǒ méi tīng qīngchu nǐ shuō shénme
It's too noisy — I didn't catch what you said clearly. (informal) — 没听清楚 for a blocked signal.
Key Takeaways
- 清楚 (qīngchu) is a two-syllable resultative meaning "clearly, distinctly": 看清楚, 听清楚, 说清楚, 写清楚.
- It proves resultatives are about result, not word length — 干净, 明白 work the same way.
- 说清楚 also means "clear a matter up" — spell it out so no confusion is left.
- Keep 听清楚 (clear signal) apart from 听懂 (grasped meaning).
- Potential: 看得清楚 / 看不清楚 (can / can't); completed negation: 没看清楚, never 不. See the resultative overview.
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- Potential + Resultative: 看得懂 / 看不懂HSK 3 — Any resultative complement flips into a 'can / can't' form just by inserting 得 or 不: 听得懂 / 听不懂 'can / can't understand', 做得完 / 做不完 'can / can't finish', 找得到 / 找不到 'can / can't find' — and the negative test tells this 得 apart from the degree 得.
- Choosing Among the 得 ComplementsHSK 4 — Two different complements both attach with 得 (de): the degree/manner one (说得好 'speaks well', negated inside — 说得不好) and the potential one (听得懂 'can understand', negated by swapping 得→不 — 听不懂). The negation test tells them apart every time — and don't confuse either with the homophones 的 and 地.
- Resultative Complements 结果补语HSK 2 — A resultative complement 结果补语 welds a second verb or adjective onto the main verb to name the result it achieves — 吃完 (eat up), 听懂 (understand), 看见 (see), 洗干净 (wash clean) — negated with 没, never 不.
- Resultatives 错 & 对: Getting It Wrong or RightHSK 3 — 错 (cuò, wrongly) and 对 (duì, correctly) are paired resultatives that fuse a verdict onto the verb — 说错 (say wrong), 写错 (miswrite), 做对 (do right), 猜对 (guess right); beware 不错 'pretty good'.