Lesson 18:
Grammar - "Can": How
to Express Capability
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Lesson 18 “Can” –
How to express capability in Chinese
Through previous introduction
section of grammar, we learn the basic structure of a Chinese
sentence and how to express simple tenses.
In this section, we will show you
some of the most frequently used structure to express yourself.
To start with, let us discuss the word ‘can’ in the sense of
capability.
1.
会hui4
Verb.
会is
Chinese equivalent to ‘can’ to express one’s capability to do
something. As a noun,
会
also means “meeting” or “conference”. This is not related to
its meaning as a verb. Please be sure not to be confused. In a
sentence, 会
is often put ahead of “verb + noun” structure, just like “can”
in English.
See the following example:
2.
他 会 开 车
ta1 hui4
kai1 che1
He can
drive a car. (=he can drive)
3.
我们 会 说 英文
wo3men2
hui4 shuo1 yin1wen2
We
can speak English.
4.
不会
bu2hui4
“can not”.
As you may know from previous
classes, “不”
means “not”. Note in Chinese, “no” or “not” is most of time
put before rather than after the verb to express negative sense
such as in this case.
