Level 5 · Advanced
Obviously (yet…): 明明
明明 + Fact，却 / 还 / 怎么 … · Traditional: 明明 + Fact，卻 / 還 / 怎麼 …
明明 (míngmíng) means "clearly" or "obviously" — but with attitude. It points at an undeniable fact and demands to know why reality (or someone's words) contradicts it: 你明明知道答案，为什么不说？ "You obviously know the answer — why won't you say it?"
Because it's built for confrontation, 明明 almost always lives in sentences with 却, 还, 怎么, or 为什么. A 明明 sentence with no contradiction in sight sounds incomplete.
Examples
你明明知道答案，为什么不说？
你明明知道答案，為什麼不說？
nǐ míng míng zhī dào dá àn wèi shén me bù shuō
You clearly know the answer — why won't you say it?
他明明在家，却说自己在公司。
他明明在家，卻說自己在公司。
tā míng míng zài jiā què shuō zì jǐ zài gōng sī
He was obviously at home, yet claimed he was at the office.
明明是你的错，你还怪我？
明明是你的錯，你還怪我？
míng míng shì nǐ de cuò nǐ hái guài wǒ
It's clearly your fault, and you're blaming me?
我明明记得把钥匙放在这里了。
我明明記得把鑰匙放在這裡了。
wǒ míng míng jì de bǎ yào shi fàng zài zhè lǐ le
I clearly remember putting the keys right here.
Common mistakes
✗ 今天明明是晴天。
✓ 明明是晴天，天气预报却说有雨。
明明 needs a contradiction to push against — pair it with 却, 还, or a why-question.
Related grammar points
See it in a story
Read this pattern in context: Blind Men Touching the Elephant · The Thief and the Bell — free graded stories with tap-to-reveal pinyin and translations.
