能力 / 本领 / 才能【nénglì / běnlǐng / cáinéng】

能力, 本领 and 才能 all name what someone is able to do. 能力 is general capacity, 本领 is a practical skill you have learned, and 才能 is talent that shows in what you produce.

能力 – capacity

能力 is the neutral, measurable word. It takes 强 and 弱, combines with a field before it – 学习能力, 语言能力 – and can take a verb phrase after 有: 有能力做 "be capable of doing".

本领 – learned skill

本领 is a skill you acquire by practice: fixing things, swimming, surviving. It goes with 学, 有 and 大, and sounds more concrete and spoken than 能力. It doesn't combine with a field word the way 能力 does.

• × 他的学习本领很强 → 他的学习能力很强

才能 – talent

才能 is a gift that shows in art, leadership or organising. It goes with 发挥 "bring into play" and 表现出 "display", and rarely with 强.

才能 the noun, 才 + 能 the adverb and verb

才能 also appears as two words: 才 "only then" plus 能 "can". That one sits before a verb; the noun sits where a noun does. The pinyin is the same.