By using "會說...嗎" instead of the equally valid "會不會說" for the question pattern in your Mandarin example, you deliberately made the Mandarin and Cantonese gramma

By using "會說...嗎" instead of the equally valid "會不會說" for the question pattern in your Mandarin example, you deliberately made the Mandarin and Cantonese grammars different. And you changed "Cantonese" to "Mandarin" in the example text. I don't know Cantonese but I'd ask if you chose your example to maximize the different Hanzi used in each language also? Using the 會不會-form for both the Mandarin and the Cantonese shows a closer match, as does using "Cantonese" in both examples... 他會說普通話嗎？他不會。 //your Mandarin using 會嗎-form 他會不會說普通話？他不會。 //my Mandarin using 會不會-form 他會不會說廣東話？他不會。 //my Mandarin using 會不會-form and 廣東 instead of 普通 佢識唔識講廣東話？佢唔識。 //your Cantonese using 會不會-form ...so I'm guessing there's a one-to-one match between the Hanzi in your Cantonese and complex Mandarin examples, perhaps: 他 => 佢 會 => 識 不 => 唔 說 => 講 Two of those show the same radical i.e. 亻 and 言. There's just as many differences between the complex and simplified Mandarin scripts also, even though much the same sounds are used to speak it both within and outside China... 會 => 会 說 => 说 廣 => 广 東 => 东 So I'd dispute your claim.