"He can't dance."
Translation:他不会跳舞。
December 25, 2017
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This discussion is locked.
Pretty much context. If I would ask "will he dance at 3?" someone might reply with "no, he won't dance at 3" which would be 他三点不跳舞, in which 会 is implied. However, if someone is unwilling to dance, we might say 他不愿意跳舞 or 他不要跳舞 (he is unwilling to dance/he doesn't want to dance).
Since Chinese technically doesn't have verb tenses, it's a good idea to avoid thinking that way when trying to learn the language. It comes with practise, but you would rarely see "he will not dance" be portrayed in Chinese. Hope this helps!
MalBrood
193
能 is more common in having permission to do something, but in the negative sense you'd use 不可以.