我不清楚 你问我妈吧
“I don't know. Ask my mom.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
对了 灿灿 你现在在博物馆上班 一个月挣多少钱
“Oh, Can, how much does the museum pay you every month?”
我 不清楚 你 问我妈 吧
“I don't know. Ask my mom.”
“It's none of your business how much I make, so stop asking me.”
Young Chinese adults often face uncomfortable questions about income and marriage from relatives, and deflecting by citing parents is a common face-saving tactic.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
I am not sure / I don't know
A common deflection strategy used to avoid answering awkward or overly personal questions directly.
you can ask my mom
A polite yet firm way for young adults to shift responsibility onto parents when facing probing relatives.
Softens the redirection into a casual suggestion, reducing direct confrontation.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“Do you know Hongtou Mazu Temple?”
“I just wonder if he knows”
“I wouldn't know.”
“I don't either. But I need to figure it out.”
“Well… I'm not sure.”
“I'm not really sure about that. Because I haven't seen him either.”
“I really have no idea.”
“I'm not so sure. I'm sorry, sir. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“I can't really explain it.”
“I'm not so sure about that.”
“I don't know either. It's just a guess.”