Chinese Modal Verbs: Use 会, 能, 可以 This Way to Talk in Mandarin Chinese

Simple translation from the English "can" does not work here.❌ The truth is, Chinese doesn’t just ask if you can do something — it cares deeply about why. Is it a learned skill? A permission granted? A physical ability in this exact moment? To deal with these nuances, there are three different verbs: , , and (kěyǐ)可以. Understanding their split is your key to sounding precise and appropriate, not just correct.

会 (huì): The modal verb in Chinese for learned skill & inherent probability

Let’s start with , the most misunderstood of the trio. We often translate it as “can,” but that’s misleading. is not about ability in the moment; it’s about knowledge and skill acquired through learning or practice. It’s the verb for what you know how to do.

The implication is clear: there was a time before you didn’t know, and now you do. It’s a stable, internal capability. Think of it as your resumé verb. If you use here (), you’re shifting the meaning to a situational ability, like “She is able to speak Chinese (right now, because her throat isn’t sore).”

But has a second, equally important job: expressing future likelihood. This isn’t a random extension; it’s about predicting based on inherent nature or learned patterns.

能 (néng) vs. 可以 (kě yǐ): Chinese modal verbs for permissions and conditions

Now we get to the pair that causes the most headaches: and (kěyǐ)可以. They both often translate to “can” or “may,” and in many simple permission contexts, they’re interchangeable.

The word (kěyǐ)可以 is the verb of social permission or broadly acceptable options. It’s about being allowed or something being feasible.

The character , however, is fundamentally about capability or circumstance. It asks: Do the external or personal conditions enable this?

However, nowadays, people more and more use the two verbs interchangeably when it comes to considering the conditions.

The negations of the modal verbs in Chinese

Of course, there’s a significant gray area where and (kěyǐ)可以 overlap, as mentioned in the previous section.

The true clarifying power, however, comes with negation. This is where the meanings diverge, and misunderstanding happens fast.

Similarly, compare and when refusing.

A simple guideline on how to choose modal verbs in Mandarin Chinese

So how do you move from memorizing rules to intuitively choosing the right word? You adopt a new mindset. Before you say “can,” pause and ask a quick internal audit:

Grammar books can never replace real-world training

According to the rules above, should I say for "I can't come"? Wait, that sounds weird, and people usually say . Even the best grammar book cannot exhaust the real-life cases in language learning.

The good news is, Migaku app can help you make full use of media resources to learn Chinese and generate Chinese subtitles even when the video does not feature any. For example, Migaku app can generate subtitles for this cut from Story of Yanxi Palace with the English translation. You can also click the words or sentences to add them to your flashcard collections and review them later. It can assist you with collecting sentences related to the modal verbs.

FAQs

Mastering modal verbs in Chinese is more important than you might think...

Modal verbs not just express meanings; they allow listeners to tell your attitudes about things too. Imagine telling your boss that (I can draft this material, but...) In this case, the modal verb together with "but" conveys the tone that you are not really willing to do something... And, the media is the best place where you can pick up thousands of cases like this!

Regardless of knowing how, first say if you're able to!