Modal Verbs — Mandarin Grammar

Modal verbs go before the main verb and never change form. The key ones are (huìㄏㄨㄟˋhui4) — can (learned skill) / will, (néngㄋㄥˊnêng2) — can (ability/circumstance), (kě·yǐㄎㄜˇ·ㄧˇk'o3·yi3) — may (permission), (yàoㄧㄠˋyao4) — want to / must, (xiǎngㄒㄧㄤˇshiang3) — would like to, (yīng·gāiㄧㄥ·ㄍㄞying1·kai1) — should, and (děiㄉㄟˇtei3) — must / have to.

Negate with (bùㄅㄨˋpu4): (bú huìㄅㄨˊ ㄏㄨㄟˋpu2 hui4) — cannot / won't, (bù néngㄅㄨˋ ㄋㄥˊpu4 nêng2) — cannot. Exception: (bú yòngㄅㄨˊ ㄩㄥˋpu2 yung4) replaces 不得 for "don't have to."

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Mandarin course

101 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 8. A few of them, with the words “Modal Verbs” is about in bold:

我要买一根香蕉和六个鸡蛋。
wǒ yào mǎi yī gēn xiāng·jiāo hé liù gè jī·dàn.ㄨㄛˇ ㄧㄠˋ ㄇㄞˇ ㄧㄍㄣㄒㄧㄤ·ㄐㄧㄠㄏㄜˊ ㄌㄧㄡˋ ㄍㄜˋ ㄐㄧ·ㄉㄢˋ.wo3 yao4 mai3 yi1 kên1 shiang1·chiao1 ho2 liu4 ko4 chi1·tan4.
I am buying one banana and six eggs.
Lesson 43
我现在想回家。
wǒ xiàn·zài xiǎng huí jiā.ㄨㄛˇ ㄒㄧㄢˋ·ㄗㄞˋ ㄒㄧㄤˇ ㄏㄨㄟˊ ㄐㄧㄚ.wo3 shien4·tsai4 shiang3 hui2 chia1.
I want to go home now.
Lesson 71
你明天会回来吗？
nǐ míng·tiān huì huí lái ma?ㄋㄧˇ ㄇㄧㄥˊ·ㄊㄧㄢㄏㄨㄟˋ ㄏㄨㄟˊ ㄌㄞˊ ˙ㄇㄚ?ni3 ming2·t'ien1 hui4 hui2 lai2 ma?
Will you be back tomorrow?
Lesson 258

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Sentences from Lingora’s Mandarin course

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