可以

Chinese

 
can; may; able to; certain(ly); to suit; (particle used for emphasis)
 
to use; according to; so as to; in order to; by; with; because; Israel (abbrev.)
simp. and trad.
(可以)

Etymology

Pronunciation


Verb

可以

  1. can; may
    可以   Nǐ bù kěyǐ zǒu.   You may not leave.
    可以警告   Nǐ bù kěyǐ jǐnggào tā.   You can’t warn him.
  2. can; to be able
    哪兒可以電話卡 [MSC, trad.]
    哪儿可以电话卡 [MSC, simp.]
    Wǒ zài nǎr kěyǐ nòng dào diànhuàkǎ? [Pinyin]
    Where can I get a telephone card?
    現在科學可以說明許多神秘 [MSC, trad.]
    现在科学可以说明许多神秘 [MSC, simp.]
    Xiànzài kēxué kěyǐ shuōmíng xǔduō shénmì de shì. [Pinyin]
    Science can now account for many mysterious things.
    根據口音可以判斷可能來自下江地區 [MSC, trad.]
    根据口音可以判断可能来自下江地区 [MSC, simp.]
    Gēnjù tā de kǒuyīn kěyǐ pànduàn chū tā kěnéng láizì Xiàjiāng dìqū. [Pinyin]
    From his accent we can infer that he maybe is from the downstream area of the Yangtze River.
  3. (literary) (“may”) + (“by; by means of; according to”) (usually with ellipsed (zhī, “this”)); can be used to ...
    棉花可以織布 / 棉花可以织布   miánhuā kěyǐ zhībù   cotton can be used to weave cloth (lit. cotton, (one) can by this weave cloth)

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 可以 (“can; may”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Classical Chinese , 可以,
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) , 可以,
Mandarin Beijing 可以, , 能夠
Taiwan 可以, , 能夠
Cantonese Guangzhou 可以,
Hong Kong 可以,
Taishan 可以
Hakka Miaoli (N. Sixian) 做得
Liudui (S. Sixian) 做得, 可以, 使得
Hsinchu (Hailu) 做得
Dongshi (Dabu) 使得, 做得
Hsinchu (Raoping) 做得
Yunlin (Zhao'an) 會用
Min Dong Fuzhou 會使
Min Nan Xiamen 會使, 會當, 會做, 會用, 會用得, 會得, 會得通, 會通,
Quanzhou 會做, 會做得, 會用, 會用得, 會得, 會得通, 會通,
Zhangzhou 會使, 會當, 會用, 會用得, 會得, 會得通, 會通,
Taipei 會使, 會當, 會做得 mT, 會得 mT, 會得通 mT, mT
Kaohsiung 會用得, 會使, 會當
Tainan 會用得, 會使, 會當
Taichung 會用得, 會使得
Hsinchu 會用得, 會使
Lukang 會使, 會當
Sanxia 會使, 會當
Yilan 會使, 會當
Kinmen 會使, 會當
Magong 會使, 會當
Penang , 會使
Philippines (Manila) 會做, 會用, 會用得, 會做得
Note mT - mainstream Taiwan (no particular region identified)

Adjective

可以

  1. passable; pretty good; not bad; all right; OK
    休息可以   Nǐ xiūxi jiù kěyǐ le.   If you rest a while, you'll be alright.
  2. to a great extent

Derived terms

  • 可以意會,不可言傳可以意会,不可言传

Vietnamese

Hán tự in this term

Verb

可以

  1. Hán tự form of khả dĩ (possible).
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