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Nextstop，MandarinMorning
Oneofthedifficultieswhentranslatingfromonelanguagetoanotheristhatcertainwordscanhavemorethanonemeaning.TheEnglishwordcanisagoodexample.
Thereareseveralmeaningsfortheauxiliaryverbcan,andthesemeaningseachtakeadifferentwordinMandarinChinese.
Permission
Thefirstmeaningof"can"is"permission"-CanIuseyourpen?This"can"inMandarinis可以kěyǐ:
我可不可以用你的笔?(wǒkěbùkěyǐyòngnǐdebǐ)=CanIuseyourpen?
Theanswertothisquestionwouldbeeither:
可以(kěyǐ)=can(yes)
or
不可以(bùkěyǐ)=cannot(no)
Wecanalsouse可以kěyǐtosuggestanalternativeidea,asin:
你也可以写这个字?(nǐyěkěyǐxiězhègèzì)=Youcanalsowritethischaracter.
Wecanalsouse可以kěyǐ(or不可以bùkěyǐ)inanswertoaquestionusing能néng–ournexttranslationofcan.
Ability
TheEnglishwordcancanalsomeans"ability"–Imnotbusytoday,soIcan
