怎么能。。。呢？

[aimee08]

yesterday i learned this structure "怎么能(不)。。。呢？"

in my text book i had this sentence:

A: 你登过长城马？

B: "不到长城非好汉"，我怎么能不登长城呢？

then my teacher explained us that 怎么能。。呢 is a rhetorical question, and it actually means 不能。

So if i say 怎么能不。。。呢，it actually mean that i 能？but that's not the meaning of the example in my textbook.. is it?

Could somebody help me understand a little better? I'm a bit confused

[zglt1]

a question like 怎么能+doing sth +呢 means 不能 but normally stronger than that, it actually means 一定不 （must not) + doing sth

so if， if your question is 怎么能 登长城呢？here, doing sth=登长城 the whole question is became or equal to 一定不+登长城 it tells that you mean 一定不（要）登长城

but your question is 怎么能不登长城呢？here, doing sth=不登长城 the whole question is equal to 一定不 + 不登长城. and in chinese grammar, 不 and 不 are cancelling out means YES. thus, that means 一定(要)登长城 否则（otherwise) "不到长城非好汉"

ps: 要 here is used to complete the sentense.

i think you confused because you mixed up 怎么能 and 怎们能不。 your text is actually 怎么能不 instead of 怎么能。

i hope you can understant:lol:

[imron]

Think of 我怎么能。。。呢 as "how could I possibly ...." and

我怎么能不。。。呢 as "how could I possibly not...."

[HashiriKata]

Imron is spot on there, and I'll just clarify the sentence for you the way your teacher had explained it:

my teacher explained us that 怎么能。。呢 is a rhetorical question, and it actually means 不能。

So if i say 怎么能不。。。呢，it actually mean that i 能？

Your teach is correct, 怎么能。。呢 does mean 不能 (= cannot), and if you add a negative to it, it would become 怎么能不。。呢 (= cannot not (=positive)). For example: I cannot not like you (= I like you). Likewise, your Chinese sentence is a positive statement, meaning I've been to Changcheng.

[aimee08]

ok, i think i got it

is just that i could understand the example of GreatWall, but couldn't think about this structure in another situation/example.

Thanks

[skylee]

Example - 你這麽可愛，我怎麽能不愛上你呢？

[aimee08]

could i say

A: 你喜欢pizza吗？

B: 我是意大利人，怎么能不喜欢pizza呢？

[skylee]

可以。

[HashiriKata]

我是意大利人，怎么能不喜欢pizza呢？

That seems fine to me. OK, as an exercise for your understanding, can you try translating this (line from a song)?

可不可以不想你?

[aimee08]

谢谢

[aimee08]

HashiriKata: ok, i'll give a try but i am still beginner.

"could i not miss you?" = i miss you a lot

OT: how can i quote a previous message??

[HashiriKata]

"could i not miss you?" = i miss you a lot

You've got full mark there!

how can i quote a previous message??

Copy what you want to quote and paste it in the place you want it to be. Then select it and click the quoting symbol on the panel (which looks like a page) to quote.

If you want to add a name to the quote, type "=name" (without the quotation marks) after the first word QUOTE, so that it will look like this:

"could i not miss you?"...

Try it, if it doesn't work the first time, just try again with the editing function.

Good luck!

[imron]

OT: how can i quote a previous message?

With the quote button that appears in the toolbar

[aimee08]

You've got full mark there!

yeah! i rock

Copy what you want to quote and paste it in the place you want it to be. Then select it and click the quoting symbol on the panel (which looks like a page) to quote.

ok, ok, thanks.

With the quote button that appears in the toolbar

found it, i was used to write in forums where the quote button was under the post, not in the editing panel.

sorry for the stupid question ^^

[imron]

Yeah, it's like that on purpose, to discourage people from quoting an entire post, when quoting a single sentence would do.