The use of Taiwanese Mandarin "hui"

In standard Mandarin, 会 (huì) is considered an auxiliary verb, but in Taiwan 会 has an additional usage associated with asking simple yes/no questions.

Structure

Subj. + 会 + [Verb Phrase] + 吗 ？

Examples

The following examples shows the differences between Taiwanese Mandarin and Standard Mandarin.

• 你 会 冷 吗 ？means 你冷不冷 ？Are you cold?
• 这个 会 辣 吗 ？means 这个 辣不辣 ？Is this spicy?

会 in this context is equivalent to the English verb "to be." However, it’s the adjective to follow 会 is usually negative. So you would never say 这会好吃吗？because most people like to eat delicious food. If you do say this, the speaker is usually expressing doubt. This usage of 会 can confuse native Chinese speakers as well as Chinese learners. Some could think that the 会 is referring to things in the future or conditional.

Sources and further reading

Websites

• http://twtcsl.org/further/Tw+Mandarin_lexicon+and+syntax

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