动词 + 不了
can or cannot manage it: circumstances allow or prevent
Structure
动词 得了／不了 （宾语）
What it means
Can or cannot manage it: says whether circumstances allow the action, or let you finish it.
How it is built
Verb + 得了／不了 (+ object): 这么多菜，我一个人吃不了 (I cannot finish this much food on my own). Here 了 is read liǎo.
When to use it
不能 + verb often means “not allowed”; verb + 不了 means it cannot be done. The same slot takes other results: 听不懂, 买不起, 坐不下, 来不及.
Watch out
Read 了 as liǎo, not le. Pick by meaning: 孩子不能上公立学校 can sound like a rule; 孩子上不了公立学校 says they can’t manage to get in.
Examples
他们的孩子上不了当地的公立学校。
Their children cannot get into local state schools.
这么多菜，我一个人吃不了。
I cannot finish this much food on my own.
Learn this in Lesson 8 · HSK 5: 户口制度 (The hukou system)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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