HSK 3 vocabularyHSK 3.0

只能

zhǐnéng

can only

HSK 3
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Meaning of 只能 in English

zhǐnéngHSK 3Syllabus #977
  1. can only
  2. obliged to do sth
  3. to have no other choice

Example sentences

  1. 湯姆幫不了，只能笑笑。
    tāng mǔ bāng bù liǎo， zhǐ néng xiào xiào。
    Tom couldn't help but smile.
    Tatoeba #5611537 by verdastelo9604 · #1868401 by CK · CC BY 2.0 FR
  2. 一个人只能活七十岁左右。
    yí gè rén zhǐ néng huó qī shí suì zuǒ yòu。
    Humans only live about 70 years.
    Tatoeba #8739474 by crescat · #1990616 by CM · CC BY 2.0 FR
  3. 一个人只能活七十岁左右。
    yí gè rén zhǐ néng huó qī shí suì zuǒ yòu。
    People live only about 70 years.
    Tatoeba #8739474 by crescat · #1990618 by CK · CC BY 2.0 FR

Sentence pinyin is generated automatically and may contain errors.

Characters

只 on its own →
zhī · classifier for birds and certain animals

HSK words with 只

只HSK 1只是HSK 3只要HSK 3只有HSK 3只好HSK 4船只HSK 6只得HSK 6只顾HSK 6只管HSK 7–9
能 on its own →
néng · to be able to

HSK words with 能

能HSK 1可能HSK 2能否HSK 4能够HSK 4能力HSK 4功能HSK 5技能HSK 5能干HSK 5智能HSK 5本能HSK 6

Level, pinyin and part of speech: HSK Syllabus (CLEC, Nov 2025). Definitions: CC-CEDICT, CC BY-SA 4.0. Sources & licences