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Mandarin 可以，能 and 会 | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Mona Diglot Newbie Germany Joined 5690 days ago 1 posts - 1 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 1 of 9 29 April 2009 at 12:51am | IP Logged |
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Hello,
I started learning Mandarin a few months ago and I never know which one ( 可以，能，会) to choose. All three mean the same ( can, being able to) but I'm sure there must be some slight differences? It would be great if someone could explain it to me. thank you Mona 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| astro Newbie Australia qbar.com.au Joined 5762 days ago 1 posts - 1 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin | Message 2 of 9 29 April 2009 at 3:58pm | IP Logged |
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Although 可以，能 & 会 all mean relatively the same, 会 specifically refers 'knowing how to' do something. For instance, 你 会 说 一点儿 普通话 but you don't say 能 or 可以 when talking about knowing how to speak a language.
I'm new at this myself, so looking forward to being corrected if that is not the case :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6911 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 3 of 9 29 April 2009 at 5:37pm | IP Logged |
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会 usually means that you have acquired the skill to do something
我会说英语。 I (can) speak English. 我不会开车。 I can't (=don't know how to) drive a car. 听说你很会做饭。I've heard that you're good at cooking. Both 能 and 可以 express a kind of ability to do something. 能 is often us as may/can in certain situations: 他不能喝酒。 He can't/may not drink wine (...because he has to drive home after the party) 我四点走， 六点左右能到吗？ If I leave at 4 o'clock, will I make it at around 6? 可以 is about possibility, if you're allowed to do something 小姐， 可以问你一个问题吗？ Miss, may I ask a question? 冬天，可以去公园里滑冰。 In winter, you can go skating in the park. (just a few examples from my course) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Turbo Tetraglot Newbie Hong Kong Joined 5722 days ago 18 posts - 18 votes Speaks: Cantonese*, English, French, Mandarin Studies: Spanish, German, Japanese | Message 4 of 9 29 April 2009 at 6:39pm | IP Logged |
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The explanations given by jeff_lindqvist are quite good. On the other hand though, in casual conversations, many native speakers would probably use 可以，能，会 more or less interchangeably. For example:
明天你可以來嗎？ 明天你能來嗎？ 明天你会來嗎？ Except for a pedantic speaker, all three questions mean the same thing: Are you coming tomorrow? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| solidsnake Diglot Senior Member China Joined 7043 days ago 469 posts - 488 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin | Message 5 of 9 30 April 2009 at 4:17am | IP Logged |
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I guess I'm a pedant.
1。 他不会喝酒。 "He can't drink." (implies: he has no tolerance, too easily drunk, can't hold down his liquor, etc.) 2。 他不能喝酒。 "He can't drink." (implies: he is allergic to alcohol) 3。 他不可以喝酒。 "He can't drink." (implies: he is not allowed to drink) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| irrationale Tetraglot Senior Member China Joined 6052 days ago 669 posts - 1023 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English*, Spanish, Mandarin, Tagalog Studies: Ancient Greek, Japanese | Message 6 of 9 30 April 2009 at 5:07am | IP Logged |
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I am under the understanding that 能 is "able to" 会 is "know how to" and 可以 is allowed to, or "may".
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Turbo Tetraglot Newbie Hong Kong Joined 5722 days ago 18 posts - 18 votes Speaks: Cantonese*, English, French, Mandarin Studies: Spanish, German, Japanese | Message 7 of 9 30 April 2009 at 5:11am | IP Logged |
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Actually 他不会喝酒 doesn't necessarily imply he has no tolerance for alcohol; and 他不能喝酒 does not imply he is allergic to alcohol either. Let's have a look at the sentences below:
1。 他不会喝酒 because he's driving tonight. 2。 他不能喝酒 because he's driving tonight. 3。 他不可以喝酒 because he's driving tonight. Strict translations would be: 1. He will not drink because he's driving tonight. 2. He can't drink because he's driving tonight. 3. He is not allowed to drink because he's driving tonight. In casual speech, all three sentences mean: He's not going to drink because he is driving tonight. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
 Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6896 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 8 of 9 30 April 2009 at 6:30pm | IP Logged |
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In addition, note that 会 hui4 is sometimes used similar to a future tense, expressing that something WILL happen, without any element of being able to. And a sentence like "Wo bu hui xi yan" does not mean that I lack the ability or the skill to smoke, it just means "I don't smoke".
Let's have a look in the book ("Basic Chinese" by Yip Po-Ching and Don Rimmington - excellent book, I can recommend buying it to anyone who is interested in this kind of questions): neng "can, may, be able to, be capable of" and keyi "can, may" to some extent overlap in function ...(examples) Note: keyi implies permission from an outside authority while neng refers to the ability to do something in particular circumstances. hui indicates either probability: "be likely to, be sure to" or inherent or acquired ability/skill: "can, be able to, be good at, be skillful in" To illustrate the difference between hui and neng they give: I can (hui) drive but as I have been drinking i can't (bu neng). From a practical point of view, in speech I tend to use keyi all the time rather than neng, since getting the pronunciation right on keyi is not hard at all, and if I botch up the second tone on neng I might be misunderstood and make a bigger fool of myself than I do by a slightly inaccurate use of keyi ;o). Edited by Hencke on 30 April 2009 at 6:54pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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