{"id":3194,"date":"2019-11-06T02:21:16","date_gmt":"2019-11-06T02:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/chinese-grammar\/chinese-grammar-expressing-ability-or-possibility-neng-neng\/"},"modified":"2019-11-06T02:21:16","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T02:21:16","slug":"chinese-grammar-expressing-ability-or-possibility-neng-neng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/th\/chinese-grammar-expressing-ability-or-possibility-neng-neng\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese grammar: Expressing ability or possibility \u80fdneng"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u80fd (néng) is another Chinese word that is often translated as "can." However, it has a slightly different meaning than the others. \u80fd is used to express ability or possibility of doing something. This article will further explain its use.<\/p>\n

Structure<\/strong>
\"Chinese<\/p>\n

Expressing Ability<\/strong>
The verb \u80fd is used to express either ability or possibility.<\/p>\n

Examples<\/strong>
\u80fd indicates ability when used with activities that are not co<\/em>nsciously learned or studied.<\/p>\n

W\u01d2 nén\u0261 ch\u012b sìshí \u0261è ji\u01ceozi.
\u6211 \u80fd \u5403 \u56db\u5341 \u4e2a \u997a\u5b50\u3002<\/div>\n
I can eat 40 dumplings.<\/div>\n

Expressing Possibility<\/strong>
Examples
When used with activities that are co<\/em>nsciously learned or studied, \u80fd generally means that circumstances do not allow execution of the action. In other words, it’s not possible. Sometimes this is a bit of an exaggeration and actually just means it’s "not allowed."<\/p>\n

Shàn\u0261kè de shíhou bú nén\u0261 shu\u014d y\u012bn\u0261wén. <\/p>\n

\u4e0a\u8bfe \u7684 \u65f6\u5019 \u4e0d \u80fd \u8bf4 \u82f1\u6587\u3002<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/em>portant; float: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”> <\/span> <\/p>

(my teacher has forbidden me from speaking English.)In class, you can’t speak English.<\/div>\n

Other usages
<\/strong><\/p>\n

From these examples we can see such circumstances might be pertaining to getting someone’s co<\/em>nsent or reliant on the speaker’s health. \u4f1a can be used instead if the speaker wishes to express that they are able to execute an action requiring a co<\/em>nsciously studied skill.<\/p>\n

Because \u80fd can express possibility, it is often used to form polite questions, something like "would it be possible" in English:<\/p>\n

N\u01d0 nén\u0261 bú nén\u0261 \u0261\u011bi w\u01d2 nà b\u011bn sh\u016b?
\u4f60 \u80fd \u4e0d \u80fd \u7ed9 \u6211 \u90a3 \u672c\u4e66\uff1f<\/div>\n
Can you give me that book? <\/div>\n<\/div>\n