p8nda
p8nda BETA
Home Dictionary Translate Flashcards

误认

誤認
wùrèn
verb #33,129

Meanings

  1. 1 to mistakenly identify; to misrecognize
  2. 2 to mistake (someone or something) for another

Examples

HSK 6
我把她误认成了她的姐姐。
Wǒ bǎ tā wùrèn chéng le tā de jiějie.
I mistook her for her older sister.
HSK 7-9
他被误认为是嫌疑犯。
Tā bèi wùrèn wéi shì xiányífàn.
He was mistakenly identified as a suspect.
HSK 7-9
证人误认了凶手。
Zhèngrén wùrèn le xiōngshǒu.
The witness misidentified the killer.

Tips

usage
误认 almost always carries a 为 wéi or 成 chéng to introduce what something was wrongly taken to BE - 误认为 X / 误认成 X. The bare 误认 alone (without 为 / 成) sounds clipped and is mostly newspaper register. Compare 认错 rèncuò (to recognize wrong, more colloquial).
memory
误 (mistake / wrong) + 认 (to recognize / identify) - 'wrongly recognize.' The 误 prefix is productive: 误读 (misread), 误解 (misunderstand), 误判 (misjudge), 误用 (misuse). Whenever you mean 'wrongly do X' for cognitive verbs, try 误 + verb.

Stroke Order

误 wù
认 rèn