可能

Chinese
 
can; may; able to; certain(ly); to suit; (particle used for emphasis)
 
ability; can; may; capable; energy; able
simp. and trad.
(可能)		 可 能

Etymology

Attested in Old Chinese; original meanings were “to be able to, competent”, “can be achieved, possible”.

Pronunciation
Note: ko2 lêng5 - Chaozhou.
Rime
Character 可 能
Reading # 1/1 2/4
Initial (聲) 溪 (29) 泥 (8)
Final (韻) 歌 (94) 登 (129)
Tone (調) Rising (X) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open Open
Division (等) I I
Fanqie 枯我切 奴登切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /kʰɑX/ /nəŋ/
Pan
Wuyun		 /kʰɑX/ /nəŋ/
Shao
Rongfen		 /kʰɑX/ /nəŋ/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /kʰaX/ /nəŋ/
Li
Rong		 /kʰɑX/ /nəŋ/
Wang
Li		 /kʰɑX/ /nəŋ/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /kʰɑX/ /nəŋ/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 kě néng
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 可 能
Reading # 1/1 3/3
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 kě néng
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ khaX › ‹ nong ›
Old
Chinese		 /*[k]ʰˁa[j]ʔ/ /*nˁə(ʔ)/ (~ *nˁəŋ)
English may; acceptable able; ability

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 可 能
Reading # 1/1 3/4
No. 7446 9415
Phonetic
component		 可 能
Rime
group		 歌 蒸
Rime
subdivision		 1 0
Corresponding
MC rime		 可 能
Old
Chinese		 /*kʰaːlʔ/ /*nɯːŋ/

Adjective

可能

  1. possible; probable; likely

Usage notes

Chinese does not have different words for possible and probable in the way that English does. To express the sense that something is probable—i.e., likely to happen as opposed to just being a possibility among others—consider adding 很 (hěn) before 可能 or 有可能 (yǒukěnéng).

Adverb

可能

  1. maybe; perhaps; probably; might; may
    可能我會去。 / 可能我会去。  ―  Kěnéng wǒ huì qù.  ―  Perhaps I will go.
    他可能被開除了。 / 他可能被开除了。  ―  Tā kěnéng bèi kāichú le.  ―  He may have been fired.

Synonyms

Noun

可能

  1. possibility; probability (Classifier: 個／个)
    無限可能 / 无限可能  ―  wúxiàn kěnéng  ―  infinite possibilities
    什麼事都有發生的可能。 [MSC, trad.]
    什么事都有发生的可能。 [MSC, simp.]
    Shénme shì dōu yǒu fāshēng de kěnéng. [Pinyin]
    Anything has a possibility of happening.

Verb

可能

  1. (literary) to be competent to; to have the ability to
    孟莊子之孝也，其他可能也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
    孟庄子之孝也，其他可能也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
    From: The Analects of Confucius, circa 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
    Mèng Zhuāng zǐ zhī xiào yě, qítā kěnéng yě. [Pinyin]
    The filial piety of Meng Zhuang, in other matters, was what other men are competent to.
  2. (literary) can be achieved; to be possible
    養，可能也，敬為難。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
    养，可能也，敬为难。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
    From: The Book of Rites, circa 4th – 2nd century BCE
    Yǎng, kěnéng yě, jìng wéi nán. [Pinyin]
    One may be able to support them; the difficulty is in doing so with the proper reverence.

Derived terms

Descendants
Sino-Xenic (可能):

Japanese
Kanji in this term
可 能
か
Grade: 5		 のう
Grade: 5
on’yomi

Etymology

From Middle Chinese compound 可能 (khaX nong, literally “may, can + able, ability”).

Pronunciation

Adjective

可能 (-na inflection, hiragana かのう, rōmaji kanō)

  1. possible
  2. feasible

Inflection
Inflection of 可能
Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形) 可能だろ かのうだろ kanō daro
Continuative (連用形) 可能で かのうで kanō de
Terminal (終止形) 可能だ かのうだ kanō da
Attributive (連体形) 可能な かのうな kanō na
Hypothetical (仮定形) 可能なら かのうなら kanō nara
Imperative (命令形) 可能であれ かのうであれ kanō de are
Key constructions
Informal negative 可能ではない
可能じゃない		 かのうではない
かのうじゃない		 kanō de wa nai
kanō ja nai
Informal past 可能だった かのうだった kanō datta
Informal negative past 可能ではなかった
可能じゃなかった		 かのうではなかった
かのうじゃなかった		 kanō de wa nakatta
kanō ja nakatta
Formal 可能です かのうです kanō desu
Formal negative 可能ではありません
可能じゃありません		 かのうではありません
かのうじゃありません		 kanō de wa arimasen
kanō ja arimasen
Formal past 可能でした かのうでした kanō deshita
Formal negative past 可能ではありませんでした
可能じゃありませんでした		 かのうではありませんでした
かのうじゃありませんでした		 kanō de wa arimasen deshita
kanō ja arimasen deshita
Conjunctive 可能で かのうで kanō de
Conditional 可能なら（ば） かのうなら（ば） kanō nara (ba)
Provisional 可能だったら かのうだったら kanō dattara
Volitional 可能だろう かのうだろう kanō darō
Adverbial 可能に かのうに kanō ni
Degree 可能さ かのうさ kanōsa

Synonyms
  • できる (dekiru)
  • (possible): ありうる (ariuru), 起 (お)こりうる (okoriuru)

Antonyms

(possible):

Derived terms

Noun

可能 (hiragana かのう, rōmaji kanō)

  1. possibility, good chance
    可 (か)能 (のう)の
    kanō no
    possible
  2. feasibility

Antonyms

References
  1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  • 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  • 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.

Korean
Hanja in this term
可能

Noun

可能 • (ganeung) (hangeul 가능)

  1. Hanja form? of 가능 (“possibility”).

Vietnamese
Hán tự in this word
可能

Noun

可能

  1. Hán tự form of khả năng (“ability; capability; competence”).
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