Kilo Lingo

(néng) - can, to be able to (physical capacity) in Mandarin

néng

Traditional: 能

Line drawing of 能
Coloured illustration of 能
HSK 1
#49 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

can, to be able to (physical capacity)

Word origin

能 (néng) 'can, to be able' originally depicted a bear, with the 月 (肉, flesh) element and the bear's limbs; from the strength of the bear it came to mean 'capable, able'.

Origin
pictograph
Root
originally a drawing of a bear (with 月/肉 flesh element)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 能

能

Examples

？

Can you help me?

，。

He hurt his leg and cannot walk.

，。

This box is too heavy, I cannot move it alone.

？

Can I help you?

。

He can swim one kilometre.

Appears in 7 words

Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 能.

不能bù néngcannot, must not (prohibition or incapacity)可能kě néngpossibly, maybe; possible才能cái néngtalent, ability; only then can只能zhǐ néngcan only, have no choice but to能够néng gòuto be able to, can, to manage to能力néng lìability, capability能量néng liàngenergy, power

Used in

Stories

(2)

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This word is part of lesson 1.