Meaning of 想不到
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- unexpected
- hard to imagine
- it had not occurred to me
- who could have thought that
How to use 想不到
想不到 is used to express surprise when something happens that you did not expect, often at the start of a sentence. It can also come before a noun, as in 想不到的结果 (an unexpected result). Example: 真想不到你会来。(Zhēn xiǎngbudào nǐ huì lái.) I really didn't expect you to come.
想 (xiǎng) means to think, and 不到 (bu dào) means not reaching. Your thinking did not reach that far, so the result is something you never imagined.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 想不到 with 没想到 (méi xiǎngdào). 没想到 simply reports that you did not expect something in the past, while 想不到 sounds more like 'it is hard to imagine' and can also mean you cannot come up with something, as in 我想不到好办法 (I can't think of a good solution). Also keep 不 in the neutral tone here, not bù.
想不到 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
想 xiǎng · to think · 13 strokes
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不 bù · no · 4 strokes
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到 dào · to reach · 8 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 想不到.
| 看到 | kàndào | to see |
| 找到 | zhǎodào | to find |
| 对不起 | duìbuqǐ | I'm sorry; excuse me; I beg your pardon; to let (sb) down; to disappoint |
| 得到 | dédào | to get; to obtain; to receive |
| 是不是 | shì bu shì | is or is not (used to form yes-no questions) |
| 不用 | bùyòng | need not |
| 听到 | tīngdào | to hear |
| 回到 | huídào | to return to |
| 来到 | láidào | to arrive; to come |
| 不大 | bù dà | not very (clear, far away etc); not too; not often; infrequently |
| 不对 | bùduì | incorrect; wrong |
| 不客气 | bù kèqì | you're welcome; don't mention it |
Questions about 想不到
What does 想不到 mean?
想不到 (xiǎngbudào) means "unexpected; hard to imagine" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 想不到?
想不到 is made of 3 characters: 想 (13 strokes), 不 (4 strokes), 到 (8 strokes). That is 25 strokes in total.
Is 想不到 an HSK word?
Yes. 想不到 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the opposite of 想不到?
The opposite is 想得到 (xiǎng de dào), meaning 'can think of' or 'can imagine.' It often appears in questions such as 谁想得到？(Who could have imagined?).
Can I put an object between 想 and 不到?
No. In this potential complement pattern the object comes after the whole word, as in 想不到办法 (can't think of a way). You cannot say 想办法不到.