“Series of Teaching Foreigners Chinese Grammar” is the achievement of “Research and Development of Grammar Syllabus for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language and Teaching Reference Grammar Series (Multi-volume)”, a major project of National Social Science Fund of China presided over by Professor Qi Huyang, which has been selected as the “2022 Founding Project of National Publication Foundation”. As an important reference book for international Chinese language education, it aims to build and improve the “Grammar System of Chinese Teaching” for foreign students to meet the development needs of the new era. It mainly serves the front line Chinese teachers, researchers, graduate students and undergraduates majoring in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages. This series consists of 39 volumes, including 4 outline series, 26 book series, 8 summary series, and 1 collection of essays.

This book is a fascicle of the third volumes of the book series, “Néng” and “Huì”. With reference to the modal semantic system, this book follows the problems and discusses the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic features of the two most typical multi-meaning modal verbs “néng” and “huì” in Chinese as a foreign language teaching and learning, and the acquisition error and acquisition order of “néng” and “huì” in terms of comparative analysis, on the basis of which the levelled teaching scheme, classroom activities and teaching design, teaching methods and teaching strategies of “néng” and “huì” are provided, hoping to provide reference for the study of Chinese language modal patterns, especially the study and teaching of “néng” and “huì”.

Jia Chengnan, Ph.D. from Zhejiang University, is a lecturer in the College of International Education, Zhejiang Gongshang University. His research mainly focuses on modern Chinese grammar. He has presided over one key project of Humanities and Social Sciences Research of Anhui Education Department and one project of Hangzhou Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning, participated in several key projects of National Social Sciences, and published several academic papers.

Peng Lizhen, Ph.D. from Fudan University, is a professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of Literature, Institute of Chinese Language and Linguistics, Centre for Chinese Language History, Centre for Language and Cognition, and Centre for the Study of the Chinese Language, Zhejiang University, and the co-editor-in-chief of the international linguistic journal, Chinese as a Second Language Research (CASLAR). Professor Peng is mainly engaged in research on syntax, semantics and teaching Chinese as a foreign language, and is the author of Studies on Modern Chinese Modal Patterns, From Semantics to Syntax, and so on.

I. Are commonly used verbs easy to learn and teach?

The modal verbs “néng” and “huì” can be used everywhere in our daily communication, as well as in Chinese textbooks at different stages of Chinese language learning, such as junior, intermediate and senior levels. Students are able to say “我会说汉语”, “他今天不能来上课”, etc. skillfully and correctly at the junior level, but at the intermediate and advanced levels, they may still give out the following sentences:

1.你有不懂的问题能问我。

2.今天作业很多，我能不看电视。

3.只有有才能的人，才会当翻译。

4.你会真选地方。

Why? This is due to the multiple meanings and complexity of modal verbs.

II. Why does the seemingly simple “néng” and “huì” always become a roadblock to student learning?

1. Both are typical multi-meaning modal verbs with complex and subtle meanings, such as “néng”, which means “ability”, “conditions”, “use”, as well as “allow”, “may”.

2. “Néng” and “huì” are both related and different in semantics and usage. For example, both can express “ability” and “may”, but there is a subtle difference in actual use.

III. What can you learn from this book?

1. You can recognize the semantic and syntactic characteristics of Chinese modal verbs as a whole.

2. You can understand the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic features of “néng” and “huì” in detail.

3. You can analyze the similarities and differences between “néng”/“huì” and other modal verbs.

4. You can recognize “néng” and “huì” from the point of view of comparison between Chinese and foreign languages, and get a preliminary understanding of the possible reasons for students’ errors.

5. You can sort out the common errors of students and analyze the corrective measures.

6. You can design and arrange classroom activities and exercises for “néng” and “huì” from different stages, and provide support for teaching methods and strategies.

This book is suitable for frontline teachers of international Chinese language education, researchers of language teaching and learning, and graduate students of international Chinese language education and linguistics related majors.