你能把马带到河边,但不能逼它喝水。

You can take a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

Source: Tatoeba

Sentence Composition

=1 you (informal, as opposed to courteous nín)
=1 you (Note: In Taiwan, is used to address females, but in mainland China, it is not commonly used. Instead, is used to address both males and females.)
=2 Néng surname Neng
=2 néng
  1. can
  2. to be able to
  3. might possibly
  4. ability
  5. (physics) energy
=2 nài
  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of (“to bear; to withstand”)
  2. a surname
  3. alternative form of (“to bear; to withstand”)
=2 tái
  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of (“name of a Chinese constellation”)
  2. alternative form of (“name of a Chinese constellation”)
=2 tài
  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of / (tài, “bearing; apparition; form; shape; status; position”)
  2. alternative form of / (tài, “bearing; apparition; form; shape; status; position”)
=2 nái
  1. (obsolete) mythical three-legged soft-shelled turtle
  2. mythical three-legged soft-shelled turtle
=2 tāi
  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) only used in 能始 (tāishǐ, “origin; root cause”)
  2. only used in 能始 (tāishǐ, “origin; root cause”)
=2 xióng
  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of (xióng, “bear”)
  2. alternative form of (xióng, “bear”)
=3
  1. to hold; to grasp
  2. to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate
  3. handlebar
  4. classifier: handful, bundle, bunch
  5. classifier for things with handles
  6. (used to put the object before the verb: + {noun} + {verb})
=3 handle
=3
  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of (pá, “to scratch”)
  2. a surname
  3. alternative form of (pá, “to scratch”)
=4
  1. surname Ma
  2. abbr. for Malaysia 馬來西亞 lái
=4
  1. horse
  2. horse or cavalry piece in Chinese chess
  3. knight in Western chess

classifier:

5 dài
  1. band
  2. belt
  3. girdle
  4. ribbon
  5. tire
  6. area
  7. zone
  8. region
  9. to wear
  10. to carry
  11. to take along
  12. to bear (i.e. to have)
  13. to lead
  14. to bring
  15. to look after
  16. to raise

classifier:

6 dào
  1. to reach; to arrive
  2. to leave for; to go to
  3. to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point)
  4. (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point)
  5. considerate; thoughtful; thorough
7 河边 biān river bank
8 dàn
  1. but; yet; however; still
  2. merely; only; just
9 不能 néng
  1. cannot
  2. must not
  3. should not
=10
  1. variant of
  2. to compel
  3. to pressure
=10
  1. to force (sb to do sth)
  2. to compel
  3. to press for
  4. to extort
  5. to press on towards
  6. to press up to
  7. to close in on
  8. euphemistic variant of
=11 it
=11 it (pronoun for an animal)
=11 tuō
  1. alternative form of / (tuó)
  2. used in 它它藉藉它它借借
=11 only used in 它它
12 喝水 shuǐ to drink water