能 and 可以 Before a Verb: 1,313 Clauses
Answering: “difference between neng and keyi”
Updated 2026-09-26 · plain text · JSON
能 is ability or possibility; 可以 leans towards permission. Both stand before the verb, and both are negated with 不.
- HSK level
- 2
- derived from its own words
- In the Bible
- 1,313
- clauses
- Meet it first in
- Deuteronomy
- where it is commonest
- How sure
- Counted
- 100% of a checked sample
Practise it
Tap the words that carry the pattern.
？，；，。」
The same verses, in full
Easiest first: ranked by how much of each verse sits at or below HSK 2, the point’s own level. Colours are tones. Nothing here was written for the page — every line is in the text.
你nǐ为什么wèi shén me问wèn我wǒ呢ne？可以kě yǐ问wèn那nà听见tīng jiàn的de人rén，我wǒ对duì他们tā men说shuō的de是shì什么shén me；我wǒ所suǒ说shuō的de，他们tā men都dōu知道zhī dào。」
Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them. Behold, they know the things which I said.”
John 18:21 · 96% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
「你nǐ要yào我wǒ为wèi你nǐ做zuò什么shén me？」他tā说shuō：「主zhǔ啊a，我wǒ要yào能néng看见kàn jiàn。」
“What do you want me to do?” He said, “Lord, that I may see again.”
Luke 18:41 · 93% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
他tā有yǒu话huà告诉gào sù你nǐ，可以kě yǐ叫jiào你nǐ和hé你nǐ的de全家quán jiā得救dé jiù。』
who will speak to you words by which you will be saved, you and all your house.’
Acts 11:14 · 92% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
他们tā men说shuō：「主zhǔ啊a，要yào我们wǒ men的de眼睛yǎn jing能néng看见kàn jiàn！」
They told him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.”
Matthew 20:33 · 90% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
那nà人rén说shuō： 这zhè是shì我wǒ骨gǔ中zhōng的de骨gǔ， 肉ròu中zhōng的de肉ròu， 可以kě yǐ称chēng她tā为wéi「女人nǚ rén」， 因为yīn wèi她tā是shì从cóng「男人nán rén」身上shēn shang取出qǔ chū来lái的de。
The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of Man.”
Genesis 2:23 · 89% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
王wáng说shuō：「你nǐ可以kě yǐ问wèn问wèn那nà幼年yòu nián人rén是shì谁shuí的de儿子ér zi。」
The king said, “Inquire whose son the young man is!”
1 Samuel 17:56 · 85% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
Go and meet it in the text
- Read John 18 — where the first example above comes from, with every word tappable.
- The rest of HSK 2 grammar — the other points at this level, with their counts.
- The HSK 2 word deck — the vocabulary side, ordered by how often the Bible uses it.
What the Bible does with it
能 is ability or possibility — 谁能判断这众多的民呢, who is able to judge this great people? 可以 leans towards permission — 都可以吃, may eat. The line between them is not sharp in modern Chinese and it is not sharp here either, but the law codes lean on 可以 precisely because they are about what is allowed.
The Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified) uses 能 852 times, 可以 830 times. 369 of those occurrences are the same words doing something else.
Both are negated with 不, not 没有, because they are about states rather than events. 不能 is cannot; 不可 is may not, and in this translation 不可 opens most of the commandments.
It is commonest in Deuteronomy, with 90 of them, and 71% of all of them fall in the Old Testament — which is mostly a statement about length, since the Old Testament is the longer part of the book.
| Word | Reading | HSK | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|
| 能 | néng | 1 | 852 |
| 可以 | kě yǐ | 2 | 830 |
The HSK column is the level data/dict.json gives the word, and it is what puts this point at level 2.
| Occurrences | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| the construction | 1,313 | 78% |
| the same words doing something else | 369 | 22% |
| Book | Clauses |
|---|---|
| Deuteronomy | 90 |
| Job | 85 |
| Genesis | 69 |
| Exodus | 63 |
| Jeremiah | 59 |
Counted from what the rule matched, before the audit — a ranking, not a published total.
Counted
The rule: 能 or 可以 immediately before a word with a verb sense.
30 of 1,313 matches were drawn at random and read in context; 100% were right. Checked by Claude Opus 5, reading each sampled clause in context; not a native speaker. Recall is not measured: this is what the rule finds, not everything the translation contains.
This point is HSK 2 because that is the highest HSK level of the point's own function words, as data/dict.json grades them; a word the HSK lists do not grade sends the point to 'beyond'.
Questions
- Which one do the Ten Commandments use?
- 不可 — the negated permission. Thou shalt not is rendered as may not rather than cannot, which is the same distinction the Hebrew makes.
- How often does it occur in the Chinese Bible?
- 1,313 clauses in the Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified), out of 1,682 occurrences of the words that mark it.
- Which book of the Bible uses it most?
- Deuteronomy, with 90 — followed by Job (85), Genesis (69), Exodus (63).
- How do you know the count is right?
- The rule is: 能 or 可以 immediately before a word with a verb sense. 30 of its 1,313 matches were drawn at random and checked one by one; 100% were right. Recall is not measured, so the figure is what this rule finds, not everything the translation contains.
Related reference pages
Take it further
- 97 ready-made vocabulary decks — by HSK level, by book or by topic, exportable to Anki, Pleco or Quizlet.
- Printable 田字格 worksheets — passages with pinyin, meanings and tracing rows.
- The parallel reader — Chinese, pinyin and your own language side by side, every word tappable.
- The dataset behind these numbers — plain JSON, free to reuse with attribution.
How this was measured
Edition: Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified). Every figure comes from one pass over all 1,189 chapters and 31,021 verses, 650,628word tokens in total, using the site’s own segmentation. A construction count is published only when a hand-checked sample of the rule that found it was at least 90% correct; between 70% and that it is published as an approximation, and below it no count is published at all. Generated 2026-09-26.