发明 fāmíng to invent
to invent; an invention
How to remember 发明: 发 send out + 明 bright = to invent.
Characters
How it is used
- Verb/noun for creating something new: 爱迪生发明了电灯 (Àidíshēng fāmíngle diàndēng) - Edison invented the light bulb.
- Different from 发现 (fāxiàn), to discover: 发明 makes something that never existed, 发现 finds something that already existed but was unknown.
- Common learner mixup precisely because both words start with 发 - check whether the thing is created or merely found.
Example sentences
- 那是谁发明的？ Nà shì shuí fāmíng de?Who invented that?
- 谁发明了电话？ Shuí fāmíng le diànhuà?Who invented the telephone?
- 你们知道谁发明了火药吗？ Nǐmen zhīdào shuí fāmíng le huǒyào ma?Do you know who invented gunpowder?