Example sentences
nǐ你néng能lái来ma吗？
Can you come?
wǒ我bù不néng能zǒu走。
I can't leave.
The story behind the character
能
能 was originally a bear. The earliest form is a bear: fat body, short legs, ears perked up. Xu Shen wrote 能, 熊属: "of the bear family." Then it was borrowed to mean "able to," and the bear lost its character. So people stuck four fire-dots on the bottom to make the new 熊. When you say "I can do it," you're literally saying "I bear."