令人困惑
lìng rén kùnhuò
The Chinese for confusing is 令人困惑, pronounced lìng rén kùnhuò.
Use 令人困惑 to describe something that is difficult to understand, such as a rule, a story or a situation.
Meaning: difficult to understand (adj)
What does it mean word for word?
令人 means to make people, and 困惑 means puzzled or confused, so the whole phrase means making people confused.
How do you pronounce it?
In pinyin it is lìng rén kùnhuò, with a fourth tone on lìng, a second tone on rén, then a fourth tone and a fourth tone on kùnhuò.
Did you know?
- To describe a situation that is confusingly chaotic, Chinese speakers use the idiom 乱七八糟 luàn qī bā zāo. It literally mentions the numbers seven and eight to emphasize a total lack of order.
- In Chinese, the word for 'confused' can also mean 'trapped' or 'distressed', as the character 困 literally depicts a person inside a box or enclosure.
- The character 惑 in 困惑 is also found in the word for 'temptation' or 'delusion', suggesting that being confused is akin to being misled by an illusion.
Examples in context
- 这些规则真令人困惑。Zhèxiē guīzé zhēn lìng rén kùnhuò.These rules are truly confusing.
Example conversation
Zihan and Junjie are studying a math problem together.
- 梓涵 Zihan俊杰，这道题令人困惑。Jùnjié, zhè dào tí lìngrén kùnhuò.Junjie, this problem is confusing.
- 俊杰 Junjie我也觉得很难。Wǒ yě juéde hěn nán.I think it's very difficult too.
- 梓涵 Zihan我们问老师吧。Wǒmen wèn lǎoshī ba.Let's ask the teacher.
- 俊杰 Junjie好的，走吧。Hǎo de, zǒu ba.Okay, let's go.
