Never make these mistakes in Chinese 60

Foreigners often make some strange mistakes in Chinese when they study the most difficult language— —Chinese. We try to analyze typical sentences to correct these errors.

         Zhíyǒu yǒu cáinénɡ de rén, cái huì dānɡ dàshǐ.
False: 只有有才能的人,才当大使。
         Zhíyǒu yǒu cáinénɡ de rén, cái nénɡ dānɡ dàshǐ.
True: 只有有才能的人,才当大使。

“会”和“能”混淆,在汉语中这两个词是有区别的,“能”表示具备某种能力、条件,即先行句说的“有才能的人”,这是当大使的必备条件,而后续句“会”没有这个意思。应改“会”为“能”,前后才一致。
会 is confused with 能 here. They are two distinct verbs in Chinese, 能 suggests the possession of a certain capability or qualification. In this sentence,有才能的人 is a necessary qualification for an ambassador. However 会 can not express this meaning. It must be replaced by 能 to achieve consistency of the whole sentence.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *