能 — Sits before a verb to assert the subject has the inherent capacity, room, or conditions to do it. (Learned skill is 會; permission is 可以.)

TSUMUGU · TBCL 2 (est.) · 語法

能 grammar point · tier 1 · 能 — capacity/possibility auxiliary (can, by capacity or conditions)

· néng

Sits before a verb to assert the subject has the inherent capacity, room, or conditions to do it. (Learned skill is 會; permission is 可以.)

字源 FORM what the parts do

能 is a bear drawn whole: head (厶), heavy body (月), two clawed paws (匕匕). An animal so strong its name came to mean strength — the capacity inside a thing. Set before the verb, it lends that capacity to the action.

故事 STORY a scene to remember it by

The bear's strength is already in its body; the load goes on and the body bears it. Take the strength away and the same load buckles it.

字源記憶法

框 · Frame

[subj] 能 [verb phrase]

觸 · Trigger

You want to say something is within reach — the capacity or the conditions for it are there.

序 · The move

1name the subject that holds the capacityis this about raw capacity or conditions, not a trained skill? a skill is 會

2set 能 directly before the verbis permission what you mean instead? then it is 可以

3let the verb phrase followto deny present capacity, is it 不能 (not 沒能)?

例 · Examples

1他的車能can (has the capacity to)坐seat / sit七個人。

His car can seat seven people.

界 · Boundary

會

能 faces capacity and conditions — the car holds seven, my arm can lift this. 會 faces a learned skill — I can swim, I can read Chinese. 能 asks is there room/strength; 會 asks have you learned it.

可以

能 says the capacity is there; 可以 says it is allowed. 這裡能停車 — there is space to park; 這裡可以停車 — parking is permitted here.

learned skill with 能: 我能說中文 → 我會說中文（會 for an acquired skill）

permission with 能 mistaken for capacity: 老師，我能去廁所嗎 → 老師，我可以去廁所嗎（asking leave is 可以）

denying present capacity with 沒: 我沒能搬這個 → 我不能搬這個（present capacity is barred by 不能; 沒能 reports a past failure to manage it）

English 'can' covers capacity, skill, and permission at once, so learners reach for one word where Chinese splits the job across 能, 會, and 可以.

族 · Family

無法Marks the verb after it as impossible for the subject to carry out; sits before a verb to say there is no way to do it.能free to, in a position to. Negated (不能), the conditions block it.