Review: ability, events, and experiences
Choose between learned skills, what is possible now, completed events, and past experiences.
What you’ll work on
- Recall the useful distinctions among 会, 能, and 可以.
- Distinguish a completed event with 了 from an experience with 过.
A short conversation
Google voice when available; device voice as a fallback. Pinyin shows dictionary tones; natural speech includes the tone changes taught in the lessons.
你会说中文吗？
Can you speak Chinese?
我会说一点中文。
I can speak a little Chinese.
你吃过饺子吗？
Have you eaten dumplings before?
吃过。我昨天吃了饺子。
Yes, I have. I ate dumplings yesterday.
你明天能来吗？
Can you come tomorrow?
能。我想下午来。
Yes, I can. I would like to come in the afternoon.
Ask what kind of “can” you mean
In the patterns from lesson 21, 会 describes a learned skill, 能 describes ability or what circumstances allow, and 可以 asks or gives permission. Their uses can overlap, so use the situation to choose a helpful beginner pattern.
Contrast knowing how to swim with being able to come tomorrow. For permission to sit somewhere, practice 我可以坐这里吗？ as a complete useful question.
Separate an event from an experience
我昨天买了两本书 reports a particular completed purchase. 我去过北京 says that visiting Beijing is part of your experience. 了 and 过 express different meanings; neither is a universal past-tense ending.
For the negatives practiced here, use 没 or 没有. Remove completed-event 了: 我没买书. Keep experiential 过: 我没去过北京.
Lesson vocabulary
Listen once, say it aloud, and try to recall the Chinese before looking.
| Chinese / pinyin | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| 会 huì | can; know how to | |
| 能 néng | can; be able to | |
| 可以 kěyǐ | may; be allowed to | |
| 了 le | particle marking a completed event in these examples | |
| 过 guo | particle marking a past experience | |
| 饺子 jiǎozi | dumplings |
Practice questions
Try every question, then check your answers. Capital letters and punctuation do not affect your score. Pinyin tone marks matter. For typed answers, use simplified characters or the taught pinyin (spacing is flexible).
Showing an answer makes that question a practice item worth zero for this attempt. Retry with the answers hidden when you’re ready. If audio cannot play, use Show answer / text to practice by reading.
Independent practice
These are independent practice tasks. The site does not record your voice, save your writing, or grade open-ended answers. Ask a teacher or conversation partner for feedback when you can.
Speaking practice
State a learned skill, ask permission to sit, and ask a partner about an experience. Answer one question with a complete negative sentence.
Writing practice
Write one completed-event sentence and one experience sentence. Make each negative, checking what happens to 了 and 过.
Review the lesson objectives
Select the tasks you can complete independently. This self-assessment does not change your quiz score.
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