我不会 I Cannot Do It in Chinese

姐姐jiějie要yào做zuò一个yí ge生日shēngrì蛋糕dàngāo，叫jiào我wǒ去qù帮bāng她tā。

My older sister is going to make a birthday cake and asks me to go help her.

我wǒ说shuō：“对不起duìbuqǐ，我wǒ不会bú huì做zuò蛋糕dàngāo，也yě不会bú huì做菜zuò cài。”

I say: "Sorry, I don't know how to make cakes, and I don't know how to cook either."

姐姐jiějie说shuō：“不会bú huì没关系méi guānxi，可是kěshì你nǐ不能bù néng只zhǐ坐zuò着zhe，要yào跟gēn我wǒ去qù超市chāoshì买mǎi东西dōngxi。”

My sister says: "It's fine if you don't know how — but you can't just sit there, come with me to the supermarket to buy things."

到dào了le超市chāoshì，我们wǒmen买mǎi了le鸡蛋jīdàn、牛奶niúnǎi，还有háiyǒu水果shuǐguǒ。

When we get to the supermarket, we buy eggs, milk, and some fruit.

回家huíjiā以后yǐhòu，姐姐jiějie做zuò蛋糕dàngāo，我wǒ在zài旁边pángbiān看kàn，也yě学xué着zhe做zuò一点儿yìdiǎnr。

After we get home, my sister makes the cake while I watch beside her, and I learn to do a little of it too.

晚上wǎnshang，我们wǒmen一起yìqǐ吃chī了le自己zìjǐ做zuò的de蛋糕dàngāo。

In the evening, we eat the cake we made together.

🔊 Audio uses your device's Chinese voice for now — teacher recordings are coming. Tap any word to see its meaning.

Key words 生词

不会bú huìcannot; do not know how to

不能bù néngcannot; not able to

帮bāngto help

蛋糕dàngāocake

旁边pángbiānnext to; beside

自己zìjǐoneself

不会（don't know how — no learned skill）

不会 + verb says you never learned how to do something, like baking or cooking.

我不会做蛋糕，也不会做菜。— I don't know how to make cakes, and I don't know how to cook either.

不能（cannot — not able to, due to circumstance）

不能 is different from 不会: it says you're not able to do something right now, not that you lack the skill.

你不能只坐着。— You can't just sit there.

也 + negative（also not...）

也 links a second negative statement to the first, showing another thing that also isn't the case.

我不会做蛋糕，也不会做菜。— I don't know how to make cakes, and I don't know how to cook either.

1. Why does the narrator apologize at the start?

2. What does the sister say the narrator must do instead of just sitting?

3. What do they do in the end?

After this reading

I'm Fei, and I teach Mandarin one-on-one on Preply. Bring this text to a trial lesson — we'll fix your tones and turn it into a real conversation.