можно
Russian edit
Etymology edit
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 edit
Predicative edit
мо́жно • (móžno) (impersonal, invariable)
- one can, one may
- мне мо́жно ― mne móžno ― I may
- 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 edit
- мочь (močʹ)
Antonyms edit
- нельзя́ (nelʹzjá)
Usage notes edit
- 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).