keyi vs hui

可以 (kěyǐ) is "can" in the sense of "may" or "be allowed to" 会 (huì) is "can" in the sense of "have the ability" 能 (néng) is "can" in the sense of "be able under the current conditions" For "hui" and "neng" you already find entries in the grammar guide: http://chinesepod.com/learnchinese/grammar/parts-of-speech/auxiliary-verbs/types/general/hui http://chinesepod.com/learnchinese/grammar/parts-of-speech/auxiliary-verbs/types/general/neng

The dictionary said in the 會 section: 表示可能性、估计、预料和推测。句末常用语气词“的”。 用于根据人或事物带有规律的客观特性所作的推断。 How easy are those two sentences to swallow? Henning, I find that you are becoming a very good teacher and that you have a strong grip on how to use this website for detailed learning. anayelena- henning is the man to answer your question:)

opps, not the dictionary but the grammar section. sry:(

I think the main problem English speakers have with 'can' is that 'can' can mean so many different things in English. Have a look at this: Girl: Teacher! Can I go to the toilet? Teacher: I don't know, can you? This misunderstanding would have never happened if student and teacher spoke Chinese. Witness: 女孩：老师！我可不可以上厕所？ 老师：可以。 Simple! I'd like to add that 'hui/会' is used for things that you have learnt or circumstances which have led you to be able or not able to do something, and 'neng/能' is for things that are just fundamentally not possible. Let's have a look at some examples. Each of these sentences might be translated as "I can't go". 我不可以走。Wo Bu Keyi zou. A person who says this can't go because they're not allowed. Maybe a child says this to a friend: I can't go because Mum won't let me. 我不会去。 Wo Bu Hui Zou. A person who says this can't go because they don't know how. Circumstances have put them in a situation where they can't walk: Maybe they have broken a leg, or they just never learned how to walk. 不能走。 Bu Neng Zou. Person A: Can I get to the Chinesepod Studios by walking down this road? Person B: No, you can't go this way, it's a dead end street. 不能走。 (Bu Neng Zou). In this last example, it's just not possible to get to the destination by walking down the street indicated. It's not that you don't know how to walk, or you're not allowed, it's just not possible. Hope it helps!

Hey Grammar-Guide John, How do I find something like this in the grammar guide? First time I tried to use it, thinking I could find a link in there for this question, and yet when I went to th e"Grammar" link at the bottom, couldn't find an easy way to look for 可以 vs 会. So then I thought I'd find a lesson that had the two words, which I did, but there were no grammar tags for this in the lesson... Question: How is this suppose to work? -Rich