"他在中国住过，能说流利的中文。"
Translation:He has lived in China. He can speak fluent Chinese.
17 Comments
A quick lesson on 的，得，and 地. Many learners get confused on when to use them.
Use 得 when the adverb comes after the verb, use 地 when the adverb comes before the verb, and use 的 when describing nouns.
So this sentence could have also been written the following two ways while meaning the same thing:
-
他在中国住过，能说中文说得流利
-
他在中国住过，能流利地说中文
1760
- is an adverbial construction ("can fluently speak" i.e. modifies "speak").
The sentence here, "能说流利的中文," is an adjectival construction ("can speak fluent Chinese" i.e. modifies "Chinese")
As for 1., it is a resultative complement construction, and is not so easy to render directly into English. But it is used in lots of very common Chinese phrases e.g. "聽得懂 / 聽不懂" (can/cannot understand--literally "listen, the result being understanding" / "listen, the result being not understanding"); "對得起 / 對不起" (can/cannot face something--more commonly heard in the negative, meaning "sorry")
- 562
"He lived in China. He can speak Chinese fluently." - marked as incorrect, though correct meaning.
- 557
It should be accepted, as there is no difference in meaning, although it is closer to 他能流利地说中文.
Wrong "de. "
的 Goes between two nounds, or an adj and a noun, like "jacob's house".
地 Goes before a verb to make the previous word an adverb, like "happily".
Sorry, replied at the wrong level. Meant to reply to person above you.
- 557
I see. No problem actually. I think @NasuSamaruk0 knows about this. He is scholar in linguistics I think? And his Chinese is very good!
"住过“ = "has lived" not "lived". "住了“ = "lived" It's a tense difference. That's why.
Why does this sentence use 能? I thought it should be 会. Is it correct to use 会？
- 557
能 can also be used here as much as 会 and the meaning does not hence change. 能 is usually related to abilities that one is borne with or mainly physiological, as well as abilities quantified with a standard. This s where both words overlap but there are cases that you can only use one of them.
Note grammatically 能 cannot be followed directly by a noun (or eqv.) So 我会中文 is right but 我能中文 is wrong.
He has lived in China, he can speak very fluent Chinese.
this was considered wrong, what do you think?
He has lived in China means he still lives there. I have lived here for 20 years... I still do. I lived in China for 20 years means I don't anymore. I am pretty sure that 住过 means the action has already finished, which means it's wrong to use "have lived" in this case.
Have lived does not imply that the action is ongoing. I have lived in China, but I no longer live there. I have eaten jiaozi but I am not eating them now.
