分清

fēnqīng

verb #16,754

Meanings

Literally 'separate-clear' - to sort things out clearly.

HSK 6

你要分清公和私。

Nǐ yào fēnqīng gōng hé sī.

You need to distinguish between public and private matters.

HSK 7-9

双胞胎长得太像了，我分不清谁是谁。

Shuāngbāotāi zhǎng de tài xiàng le, wǒ fēn bù qīng shuí shì shuí.

The twins look so alike, I can't tell who is who.

grammar

分清 is a resultative complement: 分 (separate) + 清 (clearly). It splits naturally: 分得清 (can distinguish), 分不清 (can't distinguish).

分 fēn

清 qīng