能 (néng) means Can (ability - capable - energy). Below are 24 of the 231 sentences on this site that use it — with pinyin, an English translation and audio. All of them were written by hand; none is machine generated.
Dictionary examples
Reading these is one thing; producing 能 yourself is another. Cloze in Context takes a sentence from this same bank, removes one word and asks you to put it back — beginner, intermediate and advanced.
From the graded readers
他不 能 常常回家，我很想他。
tā bùnéng chángcháng huíjiā, wǒ hěnxiǎng tā.
He can't come home often, and I miss him a lot.
Graded reader · HSK 1 · My Family
今年我因为工作，没 能 回去。
jīnnián wǒ yīnwèi gōngzuò, méi néng huíqu.
This year I couldn't get back because of work.
Graded reader · HSK 3 · Mid-Autumn Festival
路上我 能 看见很多人和很多商店。
lùshang wǒ néng kànjiàn hěnduō rén hé hěnduō shāngdiàn.
On the way I can see lots of people and lots of shops.
Graded reader · HSK 1 · Going to School
我把可 能 被问到的问题都写了下来。
wǒ bǎ kěnéng bèi wèn dào de / dì wèntí dōu xiěle xialai.
I'd written down every question I might be asked.
Graded reader · HSK 3 · The Job Interview
我把那封信放在了书桌上，每天都 能 看见。
wǒ bǎ nà / nèi fēng xìn fàng zài le / liǎo / liào shū zhuō shàng, měitiān dōu néng kànjiàn.
I put the letter on my desk where I see it every day.
Graded reader · HSK 3 · A Letter From Grandmother
可是我喜欢那个每天都 能 说到做到的自己。
kěshì wǒ xǐhuan nèigè měitiān dōu néng shuōdào zuòdào de / dì zìjǐ.
But I do like the version of me who does what he says he'll do, every day.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Keeping Up Running
我也终于明白， 能 长期做下去的，才叫努力。
wǒ yě zhōngyú míngbai, néng chángqī zuò xiàqu de / dì, cái jiào nǔlì.
And I finally understood that only what you can keep doing counts as effort.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Facing Pressure
From the travel phrasebook
能 改价吗？
Néng gǎijià ma?
Can you adjust the price?
Travel phrasebook · Sourcing online (1688 and Alibaba)
几天 能 发？
Jǐ tiān néng fā?
How many days until it goes out?
Travel phrasebook · Sourcing online (1688 and Alibaba)
能 不 能 写下来？
Néng bu néng xiě xiàlái?
Could you write that down?
Travel phrasebook · Meetings and introductions
From the grammar library
我今天不 能 去。
Wǒ jīntiān bù néng qù.
I can't go today.
Grammar library · HSK 2 · 会 / 能 / 可以 — three ways to say "can"
这个房间 能 坐五十个人。
Zhège fángjiān néng zuò wǔshí ge rén.
This room can seat fifty people.
Grammar library · HSK 2 · 会 / 能 / 可以 — three ways to say "can"
能 appears in 231 sentences on this site; the 24 shortest and most direct are shown. The rest are on the pages they were written for — the graded readers, the phrasebook and the grammar library.
Words that contain 能
Each of these has sentences of its own, so you can see the character doing a different job in each one.
Questions about 能
How is 能 used in a sentence?
This page shows 231 sentences using 能 (néng, "Can (ability - capable - energy)"), each with pinyin, an English translation and audio. Every one of them was written by hand for this site.
Are these sentences machine generated?
No. They come from the site's own dictionary examples, graded readers, travel phrasebook and grammar library — all written by a person. A word with no sentence gets no page here, rather than a page of invented ones.
Why do some sentences show 能 inside a longer word?
Because that is where a single character usually lives. Seeing 能 inside the words it builds is how the character stops being an isolated symbol and starts being something you can read.
Is 能 an HSK word?
Yes — 能 is on the official HSK 1 vocabulary list, and you can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 1 page.
Where can I see the full entry for 能?
The dictionary page for 能 has its stroke order, its traditional form, every sense the dictionary lists and a character-by-character breakdown. It is linked at the top of this page.
Keep going
Read the full entry for 能, write a sentence of your own and check it in the Pinyin Annotator, drill it with HSK 1 flashcards, or search the whole sentence bank for another word.
Another word
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