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- "我不会说西班牙语。"
"我不会说西班牙语。"
Translation:I can't speak Spanish.
17 Comments
Not sure about these distinctions. 不会 is not having the skill: "I don't know how to speak Spanish" was marked wrong. Casually 'can't' means the same thing. Strictly, 'can't'/bu neng implies some sort of inability rather than lack of skill?
"I am not able to speak Spanish." means the same in English as "I can't speak Spanish." Both should be correct!
I don't know how to speak spanish is correct too..... Please add as alternate answer
921
We cannot and can't are the same but on written form it should no never be can't.... Useless to say this is wrong here!
Can this also mean "I won't speak Spanish" as they use 会 for future tense?
- 418
Duolingo gives too much credit to 会 as "future tense." Chinese is way more likely to specify a time instead of giving a tense. Or if the tense is known from context, then any time words can be omitted. If they wanted to say, "I won't speak Spanish," they probably wouldn't think putting it in a future tense, instead maybe phrasing it as "I refuse to speak Spanish," or "I (will) try not to use Spanish," or whatever, depending on the need of the context.
In standard English, you "speak" a language. It's about the only time the word "speak" is used. Everywhere else it's "say" or "talk."
"Speak" refers to a language capacity. "I speak Russian very badly." "Say" refers to a specific utterance. "He says he speaks Russian." "Talk" refers to the act of conversation. "We talked in Russian for two hours."
