▎會, huì, (Vaux), aquired skills, can, able to (1)

 

Function The modal verb 會 refers to skills that are acquired through learning, i.e., they are cognitive abilities, e.g., know how to.

1 陳小姐會做飯。

Chén xiǎojiě huì zuòfàn.

Miss Chen can cook.

2 他哥哥會踢足球。

Tā gēge huì tī zúqiú.

His older brother knows how to play soccer.

3 他們兄弟姐妹都會游泳。

Tāmen xiōngdì jiěmèi dōu huì yóuyǒng.

All of those siblings know how to swim.

 

Structures 會 is an auxiliary verb and can be negated and can enter the A-not-A pattern.

Negation：

1 他的媽媽不會做飯。

Tā de māma bú huì zuòfàn.

His mom can’t cook.

2 我媽媽不會做甜點。

Wǒ māma bú huì zuò tiándiǎn.

My mom does not know how to make desserts.

3 我的家人都不會打棒球。

Wǒ de jiārén dōu bú huì dǎ bàngqiú.

None of the members of my family knows how to play baseball.

Questions：

1 你會做甜點嗎？

Nǐ huì zuò tiándiǎn ma?

Do you know how to make desserts?

2 他弟弟會踢足球嗎？

Tā dìdi huì tī zúqiú ma?

Does his younger brother know how to play football?

3 你會不會說中文？

Nǐ huì bú huì shuō Zhōngwén?

Do you know how to speak Chinese?

4 你的姐姐會不會做飯？

Nǐ de jiějie huì bú huì zuòfàn?

Does your elder sister know how to cook?

 

Usage 會 can also be a main transitive verb, only in a small number of cases, e.g.,

1 我不會俄文。

Wǒ bú huì Éwén.

I can’t speak Russian.

2 日語，我們都不會。

Rìyǔ, wǒmen dōu bú huì.

None of us can speak Japanese.