Expressing "mistakenly think that" with "yiwei"

Nível: HSK 4 | Categoria: Gramática

Explicação da Regra:

When we talk about mistaken beliefs in English, we just use the word "thought," and the context and the rest of the sentence makes clear that we were wrong. In Chinese, there's a specific verb just for "think mistakenly": 以为 (yǐwéi). In English, the verb "to think" can apply to both correct and incorrect notions. Chinese has a specific verb for "to mistakenly think that": 以为 (yǐwéi). Literally, these two characters mean, "take to be," i.e. someone takes one thing to be something else. Subj. + 以为 ⋯⋯ The part that follows 以为 will be a whole phrase that is actually incorrect information. Note that while it's quite common to refer to things that happened in the past, it could also refer to a situation in the present or even the future. It can also be used for commands, usually of the negative "don't think that..." type.

Exemplos com Falantes Nativos:

• 我以为他是德国人。 (wǒ yǐwèi tā shì déguó rén 。): "I thought he was German."
• 我们以为你不在家。 (wǒmen yǐwèi nǐ bù zài jiā 。): "We thought you were not at home."
• 你以为你是谁？ (nǐ yǐwèi nǐ shì shúi ？): "who do you think You Are?"
• 同事们都以为我二十岁。 (tóngshì men dū yǐwèi wǒ èrshí sùi 。): "Colleagues thought I was 20 years old."
• 我们都以为你生气了。 (wǒmen dū yǐwèi nǐ shēngqì le 。): "We all thought you were angry."

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