▎明明, míngmíng, (Adv), it should be obvious to everyone that...

 

Function The adverb 明明 indicates the speaker’s annoyance at someone else’s contradiction, whether explicit or implicit, of what seems to the speaker to be the plain truth.

1 小玉明明暗戀小王，可是不敢向他告白。

Xiǎoyù míngmíng ànliàn Xiǎo Wáng, kěshì bù gǎn xiàng tā gàobái.

It’s so obvious that Xiaoyu has a thing for Xiao Wang, but she’s just too shy to tell him that.

2 明明你們都知道他只在乎自己的利益，為什麼要選他？

Míngmíng nǐmen dōu zhīdào tā zhǐ zàihū zìjǐ de lìyì, wèishénme yào xuǎn tā?

You knew all along that he cares only for his own benefit, so why did you vote for him?

3 小玉明明膽子很小，卻愛看恐怖片。

Xiǎoyù míngmíng dǎnzi hěn xiǎo, què ài kàn kǒngbùpiàn.

Xiaoyu is obviously a little scaredy cat, but she loves horror flicks.

4 昨天的事，明明是你的錯。為什麼說是我的錯？

Zuótiān de shì, míngmíng shì nǐ de cuò. Wèishénme shuō shì wǒ de cuò?

About yesterday, it was obviously your fault, so why are you blaming me?

5 這個房間裡都是垃圾。明明很髒，他還說很乾淨。

Zhè ge fángjiān lǐ dōu shì lèsè. Míngmíng hěn zāng, tā hái shuō hěn gānjìng.

His room is full of garbage. It’s clearly a mess, but he insists it’s clean.

 

Usage By using the adverb 明明, the speaker confronts and challenges the addressee. This is rather impolite and should not be used lightly. 明明 is typically used in 2-clause utterances, with 明明 occurring with what the speaker believes to be the truth. More examples are given below.

1 你為什麼說這個蛋糕不好吃？明明很好吃啊！

Nǐ wèishénme shuō zhè ge dàngāo bù hǎochī? Míngmíng hěn hǎochī a!

Why did you say this cake doesn’t taste good? It’s obviously very tasty!

2 誰說單身不好？她明明過得很好。

Shéi shuō dānshēn bù hǎo? Tā míngmíng guò de hěn hǎo.

Who says being single is not good? She’s clearly getting along well.

3 她哪裡買不起房子？她明明是有錢人。

Tā nǎlǐ mǎibùqǐ fángzi? Tā míngmíng shì yǒuqiánrén.

Who says she can’t afford a house? She’s obviously rich.

4 你明明想買那種新手機，為什麼你說不想買？

Nǐ míngmíng xiǎng mǎi nà zhǒng xīn shǒujī, wèishénme nǐ shuō bù xiǎng mǎi?

You obviously wanted to buy a new cell phone like that. Why did you say you didn’t want to buy one?

5 你明明去過日本，可是你為什麼說沒去過？

Nǐ míngmíng qùguò Rìběn, kěshì nǐ wèishénme shuō méi qùguò?

You’ve obviously been to Japan, but why did you say that you’ve never been there?

6 小玉明明生病了，卻不去看醫生。

Xiǎoyù míngmíng shēngbìng le, què bú qù kàn yīshēng.

Xiaoyu is clearly sick, but she won’t go see a doctor.