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) + -о (-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)
- one can, one may
- мне мо́жно ― mne móžno ― I 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.
- it is possible
- как мо́жно лу́чше ― kak móžno lúčše ― in the best way possible
- как мо́жно скоре́е ― kak móžno skoréje ― as soon as possible
Related terms
- мочь (močʹ)
Antonyms
- нельзя́ (nelʹzjá)
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).