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 + Predicate + 吗 ？

Examples

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

• 你 会 冷 吗 ？means 你 冷 不 冷 ？Nǐ huì lěng ma?Are you cold?
• 这个 会 辣 吗 ？means 这个 辣 不 辣 ？Zhège huì là ma?Is this spicy?

• 他 会 哭 吗 ？Tā huì kū ma?Is he going to cry?
• 你 会 走 吗 ？Nǐ huì zǒu ma?Can you walk?
• 我 会 赢 吗 ？Wǒ huì yíng ma?Can I win?
• 明天 会 回家 吗 ？Míngtiān huì huíjiā ma?Will you go home tomorrow?
• 这 部 电影 会 上映 吗 ？Zhè bù diànyǐng huì shàngyìng ma?Will the film be shown?
• 这 个 人 会 火 吗 ？Zhè gè rén huì huǒ ma?Will this person be hot?
• 路上 会 堵 吗 ？Lùshang huì dǔ ma?Will there be traffic jams on the road?
• 我们 会 买到 吗 ？Wǒmen huì mǎi dào ma?Are we gonna get it?

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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