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like let's say you're full, you could say "gen men 没办法吃饭“

I think similarly gen men would be used as 完全

"完全没办法吃饭"

But I can't find the characters for "Gen Men". I think I have the pinyin wrong? does anybody know what I"m talking about?

1 Answer 1

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You are probably looking for the word 根本 (gen1 ben3) which means "completely" in your context.

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  • that's gotta be it! was mishearing grandma all those years ago haha. thanks!
    – A O
    Commented Aug 1, 2020 at 22:31
  • actually if you don't mind, follow up question, i was talking to my grandparents because i just attempted dumplings. they said they looked bad, "捏得不好", to which I wanted to respond “面团弄得不好,根本没办法捏好", saying that the dough I had wasn't good, so i had no chance to fold the dumplings beautifully. does 根本work here? i can make a separate thread
    – A O
    Commented Aug 1, 2020 at 22:33
  • 1
    Yes, it works. It can be understood as "there was no way to...". Commented Aug 1, 2020 at 22:50

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