Mandarin phrase guide

How to say do you speak English in Chinese

你会说英语吗？ politely asks whether someone is able to speak English. 会 expresses a learned ability.

Chinese

你会说英语吗？

你會說英語嗎？

Pinyin

nǐ huì shuō yīng yǔ ma

Sounds like

knee hway shwoh ying yoo mah

Read it piece by piece

你

nǐ

knee

English IPA /niː/

会

huì

hway

English IPA /hweɪ/

说

shuō

shwoh

English IPA /shwoh/

英

yīng

ying

English IPA /ying/

语

yǔ

yoo

English IPA /juː/

吗

mah

English IPA /mɑː/

Pronunciation notes

ü sounds like "ee" with rounded lips.

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When to use 你会说英语吗？

Neutral

Use this when you need to switch languages with a stranger or service worker.
Use 您 instead of 你 when extra respect is appropriate.

Other ways to say it

您会说英文吗？

您會說英文嗎？

nín huì shuō yīng wén ma

Do you speak English?

Polite

可以说英语吗？

可以說英語嗎？

kě yǐ shuō yīng yǔ ma

Can we speak English?

Neutral request

Example conversations

Excuse me, do you speak English?

请问，你会说英语吗？

請問，你會說英語嗎？

qǐng wèn, nǐ huì shuō yīng yǔ ma

I speak a little English.

我会说一点英语。

我會說一點英語。

wǒ huì shuō yì diǎn yīng yǔ

Common mistakes

Do not translate English 'do' separately; the question particle 吗 turns the statement into a yes-or-no question.

Related Chinese phrases

How to say I don't understand 我听不懂 · wǒ tīng bù dǒng How to say can you help me 你能帮我吗？ · nǐ néng bāng wǒ ma How to say excuse me 不好意思 · bù hǎo yì si