<blockquote>
<p>你的意思是...<br/>
You mean...</p>
<p>你是在说... <br/>
You're trying to say...</p>
<p>我不是很懂你的意思。 <br/>
I don't really get what you mean.</p>
<p>你想表达什么？<br/>
What are you trying to say?</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-03-11T00:29:06.627Z
2020-07-22T19:03:18.330Z
2020-07-22T19:03:18.330Z
Pedroski
<p>You can say "你是这个意思吗"</p>

<p>For example:</p>

<p>不想我结婚，你是这个意思吗？ You mean you don't want me to get married?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-29T12:53:54.230Z
2018-03-29T12:53:54.230Z
Angus Macrae
<blockquote>
  <p><em>So how can I express "You mean ...?" in Mandarin, to ask what they mean?</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>"你的意思是XXX？" means you are making a guess, and asking for a confirmation</p>

<p>If you don't understand a person's single statement, the simplest way to ask for clarification is "<strong>你的意思是...?</strong>" (you meant....?) and let that person explain. or you can say "<strong>这是什么意思</strong>？" (what does it mean?)</p>

<p>If you don't understand a person's speech, you can just say "我不知道你在说什么" (I don't know what are you saying)  , "我不明白你在说什么" or 我听不懂你在说什么" (I don't understand what you are saying)</p>

<p><em>It is the perfect response to the speech in your example</em></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Come back to "你的意思是XXX？" (you meant XXX?) </p>
</blockquote>

<p>The usage are the same in Chinese and English</p>

<p>Example: </p>

<p>A: "我讨厌生鱼!" (I hate raw fish!)</p>

<p>B: "你的意思是你讨厌吃鱼生?" (you meant you hate eating Sashimi?) </p>

<p><em>It can't be you hate living fish, right?</em></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"你的意思是XXX?" can be replaced with  "你是指XXX" (are you referring to XXX?)</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-11T05:37:48.627Z
"鱼生" is "Sashimi" ;  "生鱼" is "raw fish" . Unlike 鱼生,  Not all raw fish (生鱼) are eatable. "生鱼" in Cantonese could mean a specific fish which name is 生鱼, or it could mean "live fish" (活鱼 )
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-11T09:19:24.577Z
We say Sashimi as 生鱼片. Never heard of 鱼生 in my neck of woods.
dan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-11T09:24:34.513Z
Hong kong people call  Sashimi  as 鱼生;  鱼生片 refers to slice of Sashimi
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-10T10:27:50.297Z
2018-03-10T20:59:26.237Z
2018-03-10T20:59:26.237Z
Tang Ho
<p>In English, it is common to ask &quot;You mean XXX...?&quot; when a person does not understand enough what the conversation opponent said. I'm now in China, and to express the same thing I usually say the following:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>X: 和啊你呢啊哈你哈看明日开幕韩人口日民哦那人口仍然要卖烤肉日日易容让粑粑你和那会让扣扣密码全牛皮光荣日光浴热卖款日日</p>
<p>I: 你的意思是XXX？</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Or</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I: 你意味着XXX？</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, I feel this is quite awkward and just a silly translation from the equivalent English. In fact I have never seen any Chinese to say in the same way, although I should have rarely seen any Chinese are in these situations, so actually I'm not sure if my impression is correct or not.</p>
<p>So how can I express &quot;You mean ...?&quot; in Mandarin, to ask what they mean?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-10T10:00:05.627Z
II would tell X : "你在唸什麼咒語?"
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-10T12:44:28.783Z
there are online dictionaries confirming OP's suggestion, e.g. feed "you mean" to **iciba** :  2.

I'm not with you. Tell me what you mean.

我不明白你说的话，告诉我你是什么意思。

3.

Rachel started forward on the sofa. — "You mean you've arrested Pete?"

雷切尔从沙发上猛地往前一欠身子。——“你的意思是你已经抓到了皮特？”

**ichacha**  do you mean    你的意思是...
for further confirmation feed "意思是＂to **bkrs** : 你的意思是,我的意思是说…?
user6065
<mandarin><conversation><phrase-request>
How do you say "You mean ...?" to respond to what you don't understand enough?
# How do you say "You mean ...?" to respond to what you don't understand enough?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-03-10)

In English, it is common to ask "You mean XXX...?" when a person does not understand enough what the conversation opponent said. I'm now in China, and to express the same thing I usually say the following:

> X: 和啊你呢啊哈你哈看明日开幕韩人口日民哦那人口仍然要卖烤肉日日易容让粑粑你和那会让扣扣密码全牛皮光荣日光浴热卖款日日
>
> I: 你的意思是XXX？

Or

> I: 你意味着XXX？

However, I feel this is quite awkward and just a silly translation from the equivalent English. In fact I have never seen any Chinese to say in the same way, although I should have rarely seen any Chinese are in these situations, so actually I'm not sure if my impression is correct or not.

So how can I express "You mean ...?" in Mandarin, to ask what they mean?

**Tags:** mandarin, conversation, phrase-request
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: II would tell X : "你在唸什麼咒語?"  
> **username_2**: there are online dictionaries confirming OP's suggestion, e.g. feed "you mean" to **iciba** :  2.  I'm not with you. Tell me what you mean.  我不明白你说的话，告诉我你是什么意思。  3.  Rachel started forward on the sofa. — "You mean you've arrested Pete?"  雷切尔从沙发上猛地往前一欠身子。——“你的意思是你已经抓到了皮特？”  **ichacha**  do you mean    你的意思是... for further confirmation feed "意思是＂to **bkrs** : 你的意思是,我的意思是说…?  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-03-10. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

> *So how can I express "You mean ...?" in Mandarin, to ask what they mean?*

"你的意思是XXX？" means you are making a guess, and asking for a confirmation

If you don't understand a person's single statement, the simplest way to ask for clarification is "**你的意思是...?**" (you meant....?) and let that person explain. or you can say "**这是什么意思**？" (what does it mean?)

If you don't understand a person's speech, you can just say "我不知道你在说什么" (I don't know what are you saying) , "我不明白你在说什么" or 我听不懂你在说什么" (I don't understand what you are saying)

*It is the perfect response to the speech in your example*

> Come back to "你的意思是XXX？" (you meant XXX?)

The usage are the same in Chinese and English

Example:

A: "我讨厌生鱼!" (I hate raw fish!)

B: "你的意思是你讨厌吃鱼生?" (you meant you hate eating Sashimi?)

*It can't be you hate living fish, right?*

> "你的意思是XXX?" can be replaced with "你是指XXX" (are you referring to XXX?)

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: "鱼生" is "Sashimi" ;  "生鱼" is "raw fish" . Unlike 鱼生,  Not all raw fish (生鱼) are eatable. "生鱼" in Cantonese could mean a specific fish which name is 生鱼, or it could mean "live fish" (活鱼 )  
> **username_5**: We say Sashimi as 生鱼片. Never heard of 鱼生 in my neck of woods.  
> **username_1**: Hong kong people call  Sashimi  as 鱼生;  鱼生片 refers to slice of Sashimi  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-03-11. Score: 4

> 你的意思是...  
> You mean...
>
> 你是在说...   
> You're trying to say...
>
> 我不是很懂你的意思。   
> I don't really get what you mean.
>
> 你想表达什么？  
> What are you trying to say?


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2018-03-29. Score: 0

You can say "你是这个意思吗"

For example:

不想我结婚，你是这个意思吗？ You mean you don't want me to get married?


---

