How to Say “Admit” and “Confess” in Chinese? 承认 Chengren in Mandarin
Chinese Verbs – Confess and Admit | 承认 Chengren in Mandarin
Admit in Chinese is 承认 Chéngrèn. Confess in Chinese also use the same Chinese verb. Coincidentally, they have the same Pinyin spelling as 成人 Chéngrén which means adult. The two Chinese words have a different tone in the ren pronunciation but the same tone in Cheng.
① Admit in Chinese – 承认 Chengren
Usually, we use the word admit 承认 Chéngrèn for a mistake made or when telling the truth.
Place the Chinese verb directly after the Subject Pronoun. If there are other adverbs such as “already 已经 Yǐjīng and still 还是 Háishì” which is regularly used, put them before 承认 Chéngrèn.
我承认这是我的错。我向你道歉。对不起。
Wǒ chéng rèn zhè shì wǒ de cuò. Wǒ xiàng nǐ dào qiàn. Duì bù qǐ.
I admit I like him. I confess that I like this person.
我承认我喜欢他。我承认我喜欢这个人。
Wǒ chéng rèn wǒ xǐ huān tā. Wǒ chéng rèn wǒ xǐ huān zhè ge rén.
I admit this is my negligence. I should have been more careful.
我承认这是我的疏忽。我应该更加小心。
Wǒ chéng rèn zhè shì wǒ de shū hū. Wǒ yīng gāi gèng jiā xiǎo xīn.
They have already admitted that this incident is committed by them.
他们已经承认这件事是他们做的。
Tā men yǐ jīng chéng rèn zhè jiàn shì shì tā men zuò de.
They have admitted to the company about their wrongdoings.
他们向公司承认了他们的恶行。
Tā men xiàng gōng sī chéng rèn le tā men de è xíng.
② Not Admit in Chinese – 不承认 Bu Chengren and 没承认 Mei Chengren
Using identical sentences above, we form negation sentences with “Do not admit 不承认 Bù chéngrèn” and “Did not admit 没承认 Méi chéngrèn”.
What is the difference other than one being the present and the other one having a past tense?
不承认 Bù chéngrèn is a confirmation of denial. 没承认 Méi chéngrèn suggests that one has not admitted or did not admit to an incident at that time (or even till now).
However, 没承认 Méi chéngrèn does not equate to an absolute denial –不承认 Bù chéngrèn as there is still a possibility that a person would admit later.
我不承认这是我的错。我不会向你道歉。
Wǒ bù chéng rèn zhè shì wǒ de cuò. Wǒ bù huì xiàng nǐ dào qiàn.
I do not confess that I like him. I do not admit that I like this person. Don’t talk nonsense.
我不承认我喜欢他。我不承认我喜欢这个人。别乱说！
Wǒ bù chéng rèn wǒ xǐ huān tā. Wǒ bù chéng rèn wǒ xǐ huān zhège rén. Bié luàn shuō!
I do not admit that this is my negligence.
我不承认这是我的疏忽。
Wǒ bù chéng rèn zhè shì wǒ de shū hū.
They still have not admitted that they have committed this incident.
他们还是没承认这件事是他们做的。
Tā men hái shì méi chéng rèn zhè jiàn shì shì tā men zuò de.
They have not admitted to the company over the crimes that they have committed.
他们没向公司承认了他们的罪行。
Tā men méi xiàng gōng sī chéng rèn le tā men de zuì xíng.
When 了 Le is followed by a Chinese verb, the event occurs in the past and has been completed. When one still has not admitted to their doing or the truth, the case is not over yet. So, we cannot use了 Le in the negation sentence construction with 不承认 and 没承认。
