敢 for “Dare to”
Say what someone dares or doesn’t dare to do with 敢 and 不敢, and tell 不敢 apart from 怕 and 不能.
Pattern
subject + (不/没) 敢 + verb phrase
敢 always needs a verb after it: you dare to do something, but you can 怕 (fear) a thing or an action.
她不敢开车。
When to use 敢 for “Dare to”
敢 means “to dare” and goes right before the main verb, like other modal verbs: 我敢说, 他不敢问. You hear it most often as 不敢, meaning someone is too scared or nervous to do something. It cannot take a plain noun as its object: 敢 must be followed by an action.
你敢吃这么辣的菜吗？
Do you dare to eat food this spicy?
他敢在很多人面前说汉语。
He’s brave enough to speak Chinese in front of lots of people.
这么高的地方，我可不敢上去。
Somewhere that high? I wouldn’t dare go up there.
你敢不敢一个人坐飞机？
Would you dare to fly on your own?
Common traps
- 敢 needs a verb after it: 我不敢坐飞机, not 我不敢飞机. To name what scares you, use 怕: 我怕坐飞机 or 我怕狗.
- Use 不能 for rules and 不敢 for fear: 这里不能拍照 (it isn’t allowed), not 这里不敢拍照.
- In a yes-no question, double the modal verb, not the main verb: 你敢不敢去？, not 你敢去不去？
Targeted drill
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