可
Characters in this entry
- 可
- kě · may, can, -able; possibly
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
3 · ke3
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
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Sentences in context
Exact source-spelling matches. Open the reader for dictionary lookups, construction notes and related examples. Occurrence does not establish a particular dictionary sense.
Read this spelling in Classical texts
Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 13 senses · 2 Cantonese readings
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
hak1 · ho2
Cantonese word readings for 可. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
character · Etymology 1
- can; may; be able to
- to approve; to permit
- to fit; suit
- to be worth doing
- but; however
- A particle. — (archaic or dialectal or in greetings) Used to form a question.
- A particle. — (archaic or dialectal) Used to form a rhetorical question.
- A particle. — Used in declarative sentences for emphasis.
- A particle. — Used in exclamatory sentences for emphasis.
- A particle. — Used in imperative sentences for emphasis.
- (literary) about; around
- (literary) to recover completely (from an illness)
character · Etymology 2
- used in 可汗 (kèhán) and 可敦 (kèdūn)
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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