Hui, neng, and keyi

Meanings in General

会

Positive sentences

Ability, acquired skill, required by learning

• 我妈妈真会做饭。- My mum really knows how to cook.
• 他会说汉语。- He can speak chinese.

Possibility in general

• 春节的时候，大家都会吃饺子。During the spring festival, everybody would be eating dumplings.

Future

• 他不会来。- He will not come.
• 明年一定会很顺利。- Next year will be succesfull.

Negative sentences

I do not know how to

• 我不会喝酒。 - I do not know how to drink (Used as only “acceptable” reason why to say no to an invitation for a drink)

能

Positive sentences

Physical ability, skill, inborn ability,

• 她能把桌子搬到他办公室里。- He can move his table to his office.

Loose or regain certain ability (It is not possible to use 会 or 可以 in this sentence)

• 他的手受伤了，不能打篮球。- He hurt his hand, he can not play basketball.
• 他的手受伤了，不可以打篮球。
• － 他的手好了，能打篮球了。- His hand is OK now, he can play basketball again.
• － 他的手好了，会打篮球了。

Expressing possibility (in sense of something permitted by objective conditions)

明天晚上你能来吗？ - Will you be able to come tomorrow evening? 对不起，我现在不能过去。- I am sorry, I can not come now.

Negative sentences

Can not

她到底爱不爱你，我不能告诉你。- If she loves you or doesn’t, I really can not tell you.

可以

Positive sentences

Physical ability, knowladge base ability

她已经四岁，可以开始学英语。- She is already fout years old, she can start to learn english.

Permision

我妈妈说我可以嫁给你。- My mum says, I can marry you.

Can - something can be possibly caused as a result

学习外语可以扩大你的视野。- Studing foreign languages can expand you horizons.

Negative sentences

Prohibition, not allowed

你太年轻，你不可以喝酒。- You are too young, you can not drink alcohol.

Main differences

会 - can be used also as a verb by itself, others can not:

• 这样做，我不会。
• 我样做，我不能。
• 这样做，我不可以。

会 - can be followed also by complement or object, others can not:

• 你会什么？
• 你能什么？
• 你可以什么？

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Only 能，可以 can express a certain level of efficiency

• 他的朋友很能吃，他一分钟能吃掉12个包子。
• 他的朋友很能吃，他一分钟会吃掉12个包子。

可以，会 can serve also as predicade

• 这样说也可以。
• 他会乐器。
• 这样说也能。

会 and 能 can be modified with intensificators

• 他很会跳舞。
• 他很能吃苦
• 他很可以跳舞

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能／可以 - express possesion of skills in general/permission and prohibition. 能emphasizes ability, 可以 possibility

能／会 When they express “being good at doing something”, 会 emphasizes „skilll“, 能 emphasizes „ability“:

他很会吃，你想知道哪里有好吃的，他就知道在哪儿可以买到。－ He knows how to eat, you want to eat something delicious, he will know where to buy it. (Skillful) 他很能吃，给他10碗米饭吃，也吃不饱。- He really can eat, you can give him 10 bowls of rice, but ho will still not be full. (can eat a lot)

Common rules

None of them can be followed by 了，着 or 过.

• 他会做饭。
• 他会过做饭。

We can use the modal verb solo, to answer the question, but not the lexical verb solo.

Question: 你明天会来吗？（不是“回来”，是“会来”） Answer:

• 会！
• 来！

Modal verbs should be used before prepositional phrases and descriptive adverbial modifiers:

• 对 － 你应该把课本再看一次，看完以后再来考试。
• 错 － 你把课本应该再看一次， 看完以后再来考试。
• 对 － 他们得努力地读一读。
• 错 － 他们努力地得读一读。

See also

Sources and further reading

Books

• Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (pp.69 - 75, 224) →buy

• New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1) (pp. 160) →buy

• Chinese Grammar - Broken down into 100 items - Basic and Intermediate Levels (汉语语法百项讲练 - 初中级) (pp. 10 - 12)→buy

• Practicing HSK Grammar (语法精讲精炼) (pp. 142-144) →buy

• Chinese Grammar Without Tears (简明汉语语法学习手册) (pp. 239 - 244) →buy