Thursday, February 5, 2015

能 (néng) -- Expressing Ability or Possibility

能 (néng) is often translated as "can", which is used to express ability or possibility of doing something. In this article, we are going to learn more about these two usages. 

1) to express "ability": Subject + 能 + Verb + Object

  • 她们能唱中文歌。They can sing Chinese songs. 
  • 你能讲英语吗?Can you speak English?



    • 我的手机能上网。I can surf the Internet through my mobile phone.
    • 他能跑五千米。He can run for 5000 meters.
    • 他太小了,不能自己穿衣服。He is too young to dress himself. 



    2) to express "possibility": Subject + 能 + Verb + Object
    • 这儿不能吸烟。Smoking is not allowed here. (Smoking is forbidden here.)
    • 上中文课,我们不能讲英文。We can not speak English in the Chinese class. (Perhaps, English is not allowed in the classroom, which is against the class rule.)
    • 你能帮我吗?Can you help me?
    • 她病了,不能来了。She's sick, so she can not come.
    • 我能行。I can do it. 


    Please translate the following sentences:
    1) I am having a class, so I can not talk with you.

    2) Can you sing this song?

    3) He can not eat spicy food.

    4) I can speak Chinese and I can write a lot of Chinese characters. 

    5) I do not have my wallet with me, so I can not buy this book now. 

    6) He can do programing. 

    7) The computer is broken, so I can not use it now. 


    Please tell us some of your talents by using "我能..." structure. 


    Reference:
    http://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_ability_or_possibility#Expressing_Possibility

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