можно

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word можно. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word можно, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say можно in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word можно you have here. The definition of the word можно will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofможно, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

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):
  • Audio:(file)

Predicative

мо́жно (móžno) (impersonal, invariable)

  1. one can, one may
    мне мо́жноmne móžnoI may
  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).