Level 1 · Beginner
Learned skills with 会
Subj. + 会 + Verb · Traditional: Subj. + 會 + Verb
会 (huì) means "can" in the sense of a learned skill — something you know how to do because you studied or practiced it: 我会说中文 "I can speak Chinese", 她会做饭 "she can cook".
For "can" meaning permission or physical possibility, Chinese uses 能 or 可以 instead — see "能 and 可以".
Examples
我会说中文。
我會說中文。
wǒ huì shuō zhōng wén
I can speak Chinese.
她会做饭。
她會做飯。
tā huì zuò fàn
She can cook.
我不会开车。
我不會開車。
wǒ bù huì kāi chē
I can't drive.
你会写汉字吗？
你會寫漢字嗎？
nǐ huì xiě hàn zì ma
Can you write Chinese characters?
Related grammar points
See it in a story
Read this pattern in context: Everyone Can Do Something (Part 1) · Playing the Qin to a Cow — free graded stories with tap-to-reveal pinyin and translations.
