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xiaokaoy
"Do you speak Chinese?" vs "Can you speak Chinese?"
What's the difference between them, if they are both grammatical?
Nov 26, 2012 5:21 AM
Answers · 5
1
In context, they usually mean the same thing. There is a difference that I shall illustrate for you.
"CAN you speak Chinese" = Are you ABLE to speak Chinese? Is it something that you are able to do?
"DO you speak Chinese" = Do you speak Chinese REGULARLY? [eg. to friends, in work, etc.] Of course, to actually speak Chinese to your friends, you have to be ABLE to speak it.
Similarly, to be ABLE to speak Chinese, you generally need to have spoken it before... [But not necessarily....]
The two are relatively interchangeable but I'm sure you can see the difference.
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The rule is true in other sentence structures:
"CAN you play golf?" = Are you ABLE to play golf? Is it something you're able to do?
"DO you play golf?" = Do you play golf with your friends? Is that something you do on a regular basis?
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I hope you can see the difference and, moreover, I hope this helps!
November 26, 2012
They are essentially asking the same thing. They're both grammatically correct.
November 26, 2012
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xiaokaoy
Language Skills
Chinese (Mandarin), English
Learning Language
English
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