分清

fēnqīng

verb #16,754

Meanings

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

你要分清公和私。

Nǐ yào fēnqīng gōng hé sī.

You need to distinguish between public and private matters.

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