怎么能／怎么会…呢
how could …?: a question that means “should not” or “cannot be”
Structure
主语 怎么能／怎么会 动词 呢 ？
What it means
A rhetorical question that means the opposite statement: 怎么能 objects (“you should not”); 怎么会 denies a possibility (“that cannot be so”).
How it is built
Subject + 怎么能／怎么会 + verb + 呢？: 你怎么能让他一个人在家呢？ (how could you leave him home alone?) = 不能让他一个人在家.
When to use it
怎么能这样 = 不能这样; 怎么会不高兴 = 当然高兴. 呢 at the end softens it. It is not a real question about method, so nobody expects an answer.
Watch out
✗ 你怎么能这样吗？ ✓ 你怎么能这样呢？ Never end it with 吗. Do not read it as “by what method can…”.
Examples
大夏天的，一个月不洗头，叫人怎么能忍受呢？
In the height of summer, how could anyone bear a month without washing their hair?
孩子还这么小，你怎么能让他一个人在家呢？
The child is so little: how could you leave him at home on his own?
我孙女怎么会抓错呢？
How could my granddaughter pick the wrong thing?
Learn this in Lesson 43 · HSK 5–6: 坐月子与抓周 (A baby’s first year)
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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