Lesson 1: How To Say “To Think” With 以为 In Chinese?

Updated on September 25, 2020

Welcome to Lesson 1 (Level 2) of Mandarin Chinese free online lessons. In this lesson, we’ll discover 以为 (yǐwéi).

Well, in English, the verb “to think” may imply that the belief is incorrect, e.g. in “I thought it was legal here.”

However, Mandarin Chinese has a specific verb for this kind of mistaken belief: 以为 (yǐwéi).

Literally, these two characters (以+为) mean: to believe/ to consider (usually erroneously). This is often the case when someone assumes one thing to be something else.

• Lesson 1 (Level 1): Common Mandarin Chinese Verbs with Examples
• Lesson 1 (Level 2): How To Say “To Think” With 以为 In Chinese?
• Lesson 1 (Level 3): Learn Must Know Famous Chinese Idioms
• Lesson 1 (Level 4): 2 Must Know Famous Ancient Chinese Poems
• Lesson 1 (Level 5): Chinese Reading Practice with Pinyin & English

Let’s look at the example sentences with 以为.

Example 1

1. Sorry (不好意思, bùhǎoyìsi)
2. Sorry, but I thought you were French (Actually “you” are not French)  (Bùhǎoyìsi, wǒ yǐwéi nǐ shì Fǎguórén ne, 不好意思, 我以为你是法国人呢)

Example 2

1. In the beginning (yīkāishǐ, 一开始)
2. Both/all (dōu, 都)
3. Mad/crazy (疯子, fēngzi)
4. At first they all thought I was mad (It means I am not mad at all) (Yīkāishǐ tāmen dōu yǐwéi wǒ shì yīge fēngzi, 一开始 他们都以为我是一个疯子)  

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Example 3

1. Matter/issue (事情, shìqíng)
2. To be like/resemble (像, xiàng)
3. Simple/not complicated (简单, jiǎndān)
4. It was not as straightforward as we thought (It was quite complicated) (Shìqíng bùxiàng wǒmen yǐwéi de nàyàng jiǎndān, 事情不像我们以为的那样简单)

Example 4

1. Get angry (shēngqì, 生气)
2. But/however (但是, dànshì)
3. Actually (实际上, shíjìshàng)
4. Contrary to what you think, neither of the two men were offended (Nǐ yǐwéi nà liǎng ge rén shēngqì le, dànshì shíjìshàng, tāmen dōu méi shēngqì, 你 以为 那两个人 生气 了, 但是 实际上, 他们都没生气)

Example 5

1. Serious/seriously (认真, rènzhēn)
2. In fact (其实, qíshí)
3. In process of (zài, 在)
4. To crack a joke (开玩笑, kāiwánxiào)
5. I thought he was serious, but he was joking (Wǒ yǐwéi tā shì rènzhēn de, qíshí tā zài kāiwánxiào,   我以为他是 认真的, 其实 他  在 开玩笑)

Example 6

1. Laugh at (嘲笑, cháoxiào)
2. Misunderstand (误会, wùhuì)
3. Well/then (那, nà)
4. You mistook when you thought I laughed at you (你以为 我嘲笑你, 那你误会了, Nǐ yǐwéi wǒ cháoxiào nǐ, nà nǐ wùhuì le)

I hope you enjoyed learning how to say to think in Mandarin Chinese with 以为 (yǐwéi). Let me know your comments. 🙂