Home › Chinese › Glossary › What can't you do?
Chinese vocabulary · Beginner
How do you say "What can't you do?" in Chinese?
你不能做什么?
nǐ bù néng zuò shén me ?
In Chinese, "What can't you do?" is 你不能做什么?.
Listen to the pronunciation:
Free Chinese learning game. No sign-up, play in browser. See all games
Pronunciation
Nee boo nuhng dzwuh shen muh, with bù negating the ability before listing limitations.
Writing and usage
Five characters: 你 (you), 不 (not), 能 (can), 做 (do), plus 什么 (what). Asks about limitations.
Example sentence
你不能做什么?
What can't you do?
Test your Chinese knowledge in our free browser games.
How to remember 你不能做什么?
Placing bù before néng zuò reverses capability to express what someone cannot or is unable to do.
Related words
- What do you like? 你喜欢什么? nǐ xǐ huān shén me ?
- What do you love? 你热爱什么? nǐ rè ài shén me ?
- What is the temperature on Friday? 星期五的温度是多少? xīng qī wǔ de wēn dù shì duō shǎo ?
- What is the temperature on Saturday? 星期六的温度是多少? xīng qī liù de wēn dù shì duō shǎo ?
- What is the temperature on Thursday? 星期四的温度是多少? xīng qī sì de wēn dù shì duō shǎo ?
- What is the weather on Monday? 星期一的天气怎么样? xīng qī yī de tiān qì zěn me yàng ?
- What is the weather on Sunday? 星期天的天气怎么样? xīng qī tiān de tiān qì zěn me yàng ?
- What is the weather on Thursday? 星期四的天气怎么样? xīng qī sì de tiān qì zěn me yàng ?
- What is your personality? 你的个性是什么样的? nǐ de gè xìng shì shén me yàng de ?
Browse all Chinese words in the glossary.
Questions about 你不能做什么?
How do you say "What can't you do?" in Chinese?
In Chinese, "What can't you do?" is 你不能做什么?. It is a noun.
How is 你不能做什么? written in Chinese?
Five characters: 你 (you), 不 (not), 能 (can), 做 (do), plus 什么 (what). Asks about limitations.
How is 你不能做什么? used in a sentence?
Use 你不能做什么? as you would use the equivalent noun in English. For example: 你不能做什么? (What can't you do?).
Where can I practice Chinese words for free?
You can play free Chinese minigames in your browser on the Noun Town online games page, no sign-up required. Every word in the Chinese glossary also has native audio and an example sentence you can revisit any time.
"What can't you do?" in other languages
- Japanese できないことは何ですか？ (dekinai koto wa nan desu ka ？)
- Korean 무엇을 할 수 없어요? (mueoseul hal su eopsseoyo?)
- Spanish ¿Qué no puedes hacer?
- Spanish (Latin America) ¿Qué no puedes hacer?
- French Qu'est-ce que tu ne peux pas faire ?
- German Was kannst du nicht tun?
- Italian Cosa non sai fare?
- Russian Что ты не умеешь делать? (čto ty ne umeešʹ delatʹ?)
- Greek Τι δεν μπορείς να κάνεις; (ti dhen boris na kanis)
- Arabic أنت مش ممكن تعمل إيه؟ (inta mish mumkin 'tiAmil 'ieeh)
Curated by Jack Ratcliffe
This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Chinese language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation.
Noun Town on PC, Mac & VR
These browser games are just a taste. The full Noun Town is a bigger, deeper 3D world: explore a living town, talk to its characters and learn thousands of words in immersive VR, Mixed Reality, or on your computer. It's an award-winning game with 590+ reviews on Steam and 12 languages to learn.
See the full game ▶Spot an error? Email us at contact@noun.town