The Two “can” Words In Chinese - 能 Vs. 会 | Basic Grammar

Tutorial Transcript

Wanna speak real Chinese from your first lesson? Sign up for your free lifetime account at EnglishClass101.com. Hi everyone, welcome to Chinese whiteboard lessons. I'm Yinru. Today we're going to compare two more similar words, they can both mean "can" or "be able to." They are 能(néng) and 会(huì). So they can be really confusing because the difference between them are very subtle. Before we get into this lesson, let's see how you would say this sentence in Chinese - "You cannot watch TV now." Would you say 你现在不能看电视(nǐ xiànzài bùnéng kàn diànshì) or 你现在不会看电视(nǐ xiànzài bù huì kàn diànshì) ? Right! The correct way of saying it is actually 你现在不能看电视 (nǐ xiànzài bùnéng kàn diànshì) We don't say 你现在不会看电视 (nǐ xiànzài bù huì kàn diànshì). And why is that? First...