можно

Russian

Etymology

Borrowed from Polish można with a change of the final morpheme, either to avoid an ending that would be anomalous for an adverb, or because of orthographic hypercorrection rooted in vowel reduction, or both. Synchronically мог- (mog-) +‎ -ный (-nyj) +‎ (-o) (but the form **мо́жный does not exist, unlike Polish możny). Compare Ukrainian можна (možna).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈmoʐnə]
  • Audio:(file)

Predicative

мо́жно • (móžno) (impersonal, invariable)

  1. one can, one may
    мне мо́жноmne móžnoI may
    • 1869, Лев Толстой [Leo Tolstoy], “Том 2, Часть пятая, IV”, in Война и мир; English translation from Aylmer and Louise Maude, transl., War and Peace, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1922–1923:
      Мо́жно ещё посиде́ть? — сказа́л он, свои́м то́лстым те́лом валя́сь в кре́сло по́дле княжны́ Ма́рьи.
      Móžno ješčó posidétʹ? — skazál on, svoím tólstym télom valjásʹ v kréslo pódle knjažný Márʹi.
      May I stay a little longer?” he said, letting his stout body sink into an armchair beside her.
  2. it is possible
    как мо́жно лу́чшеkak móžno lúčšein the best way possible
    как мо́жно скоре́еkak móžno skoréjeas soon as possible

Antonyms

Usage notes

  • The forms немо́жно or не мо́жно are not used in standard Russian. To negate мо́жно, use нельзя́ (nelʹzjá), which doesn't have a positive form "льзя", or невозмо́жно (nevozmóžno).