can
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology 1
Middle English can (first and third person singular of cunnen, connen "to be able, know how") from Old English can(n), first and third person singular of cunnan (“to know how”). More at canny, cunning.
[edit] Pronunciation
- (stressed)
- (unstressed)
[edit] Verb
- (third-person singular simple present can, present participle -, simple past could, past participle couth (obsolete except in adjective use))
- (modal auxiliary verb, defective) To know how to; to be able to.
- She can speak English, French, and German.
- I can play football.
- Can you remember your fifth birthday?
- (modal auxiliary verb, defective, informal) May; to be permitted or enabled to.
- You can go outside and play when you're finished with your homework.
- Can I use your pen?
- (obsolete, transitive) To know.
[edit] Usage notes
For missing forms, substitute inflected forms of be able to, as:
- I might be able to go.
- I was able to go yesterday.
- I had been able to go before.
- I will be able to go tomorrow.
The word could also suffices in many tenses. "I would be able to go" is equivalent to "I could go", and "I was unable to go" can be rendered "I could not go". (Unless there is a clear indication otherwise, "could verb" means "would be able to verb", but "could not verb" means "was/were unable to verb".)
The present tense negative can not is often contracted to cannot or can't.
The use of can in asking permission sometimes is criticized as being impolite or incorrect by those who favour the more formal alternative "may I...?".
Can is sometimes used rhetorically to issue a command, placing the command in the form of a request. For instance, "Can you hand me that pen?" as a polite substitution for "Hand me that pen."
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Antonyms
[edit] See also
[edit] Translations
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
[edit] Etymology 2
Middle English, from Old English canne (“glass, container, cup”).
[edit] Pronunciation
- (RP, GenAm) enPR: kăn, IPA: /kæn/, SAMPA: /k{n/
- Rhymes: -æn
- (Australia) IPA: /kæːn/, SAMPA: /k{:n/
- Rhymes: -æːn
- (NY) IPA: /keən/, SAMPA: /ke@n/
[edit] Noun
can (plural cans)
- A more or less cylindrical vessel for liquids, usually of steel or aluminium.
- A container used to carry and dispense water for plants (a watering can).
- A tin-plate canister, often cylindrical, for preserved foods such as fruit, meat, or fish.
- (US, slang) toilet, bathroom.
- (US, slang) buttocks.
- (slang) jail or prison.
- (slang) headphones.
[edit] Synonyms
- (cylindrical metal container): tin (British & Australian at least)
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
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[edit] Verb
can (third-person singular simple present cans, present participle canning, simple past and past participle canned)
- To preserve, by heating and sealing in a can or jar.
- They spent August canning fruit and vegetables.
- to discard, scrap or terminate (an idea, project, etc.).
- He canned the whole project because he thought it would fail.
- To shut up.
- Can your gob.
- (US, euphemistic) To fire or dismiss an employee.
- The boss canned him for speaking out.
[edit] Translations
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[edit] Statistics
[edit] Anagrams
[edit] Afar
[edit] Noun
can
[edit] Azeri
| Other scripts | |
|---|---|
| Cyrillic | ҹан |
| Roman | can |
| Perso-Arabic | جان |
[edit] Etymology
From Persian جان (jân, “soul, vital spirit, life”), whence also Turkish can and Armenian ջան (ǰan).
[edit] Noun
can definite accusative canı plural canlar
[edit] Declension
[edit] Classical Nahuatl
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: /kaːn/
[edit] Adverb
cān
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Galician
[edit] Etymology
From Latin canis.
[edit] Noun
can m. (plural cans)
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Interlingua
[edit] Noun
can (plural canes)
[edit] Irish
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: [kan̪ˠ]
[edit] Verb
can
- To sing.
[edit] Inflection
| singular | plural | autonomous | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||||
| indicative | present | canaim | canann tú; canair† |
canann sé, sí | canaimid | canann sibh | canann siad; canaid† |
cantar | |
| past | chan mé; chanas† |
chan tú; chanais† |
chan sé, sí | chanamar | chan sibh; chanabhair† |
chan siad; chanadar† |
canadh | ||
| future | canfaidh mé; canfad† |
canfaidh tú; canfair† |
canfaidh sé, sí | canfaimid; canfam† |
canfaidh sibh | canfaidh siad; canfaid† |
canfar | ||
| past habitual | chanainn | chantá | chanadh sé, sí | chanaimis | chanadh sibh | chanaidís | chantaí | ||
| imperative | canaim | can | canadh sé, sí | canaimis | canaigí | canaidís | cantar | ||
| conditional | chanfainn | chanfá | chanfadh sé, sí | chanfaimis | chanfadh sibh | chanfaidís | chanfaí | ||
| subjunctive | present | cana mé; canad† |
cana tú; canair† |
cana sé, sí | canaimid | cana sibh | cana siad; canaid† |
cantar | |
| past | canainn | cantá | canadh sé, sí | canaimis | canadh sibh | canaidís | cantaí | ||
| verbal noun | canadh | ||||||||
| past participle | canta | ||||||||
† Dialect form
[edit] Mutation
| Irish mutation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Radical | Lenition | Eclipsis | |
| can | chan | gcan | |
| Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
|||
[edit] Italian
[edit] Noun
can m. (plural cani)
[edit] Mandarin
[edit] Romanization
can
- Nonstandard spelling of cān.
- Nonstandard spelling of cán.
- Nonstandard spelling of cǎn.
- Nonstandard spelling of càn.
[edit] Usage notes
- English transcriptions of Chinese speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Chinese language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.
[edit] Occitan
[edit] Noun
can m. (plural cans)
[edit] Old Provençal
[edit] Etymology
Latin quandō
[edit] Conjunction
can
[edit] Adverb
can
- (interrogative) when
[edit] Scots
[edit] Verb
can
- can
- be able to
- He shuid can dae that- He should be able to do that
[edit] Scottish Gaelic
[edit] Verb
can (present participle form cantainn)
[edit] Spanish
[edit] Etymology
From Latin canis. Compare Aromanian cãne, Portuguese cão.
[edit] Noun
can m. (plural canes)
[edit] See also
[edit] Turkish
[edit] Etymology
From Persian جان (jân, “soul, vital spirit, life”).
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: /dʒan/
[edit] Noun
can (definite accusative canı, plural canlar)
[edit] Declension
| nominative | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| benim (my) | canım | canlarım |
| senin (your) | canın | canların |
| onun (his/her/its) | canı | canları |
| bizim (our) | canımız | canlarımız |
| sizin (your) | canınız | canlarınız |
| onların (their) | canları | canları |
| accusative | singular | plural |
| benim (my) | canımı | canlarımı |
| senin (your) | canını | canlarını |
| onun (his/her/its) | canını | canlarını |
| bizim (our) | canımızı | canlarımızı |
| sizin (your) | canınızı | canlarınızı |
| onların (their) | canlarını | canlarını |
| dative | singular | plural |
| benim (my) | canıma | canlarıma |
| senin (your) | canına | canlarına |
| onun (his/her/its) | canına | canlarına |
| bizim (our) | canımıza | canlarımıza |
| sizin (your) | canınıza | canlarınıza |
| onların (their) | canlarına | canlarına |
| locative | singular | plural |
| benim (my) | canımda | canlarımda |
| senin (your) | canında | canlarında |
| onun (his/her/its) | canında | canlarında |
| bizim (our) | canımızda | canlarımızda |
| sizin (your) | canınızda | canlarınızda |
| onların (their) | canlarında | canlarında |
| ablative | singular | plural |
| benim (my) | canımdan | canlarımdan |
| senin (your) | canından | canlarından |
| onun (his/her/its) | canından | canlarından |
| bizim (our) | canımızdan | canlarımızdan |
| sizin (your) | canınızdan | canlarınızdan |
| onların (their) | canlarından | canlarından |
| genitive | singular | plural |
| benim (my) | canımın | canlarımın |
| senin (your) | canının | canlarının |
| onun (his/her/its) | canının | canlarının |
| bizim (our) | canımızın | canlarımızın |
| sizin (your) | canınızın | canlarınızın |
| onların (their) | canlarının | canlarının |
[edit] See also
[edit] Venetian
[edit] Noun
can m. (plural cani)
[edit] Welsh
[edit] Pronunciation
-
Audio (file)
[edit] Adjective
can
[edit] Noun
can m. (plural caniau)
[edit] Mutation
| Welsh mutation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| radical | soft | nasal | aspirate |
| can | gan | nghan | chan |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English verbs
- English informal terms
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English nouns
- American English
- English slang
- English euphemisms
- 100 English basic words
- English auxiliary verbs
- English defective verbs
- English irregular verbs
- en:Containers
- Afar nouns
- aa:Beverages
- Azeri terms derived from Persian
- Azeri nouns
- Classical Nahuatl adverbs
- Galician terms derived from Latin
- Galician nouns
- gl:Mammals
- Interlingua nouns
- ia:Mammals
- Irish verbs
- ga:Music
- Italian nouns
- Italian poetic terms
- Mandarin nonstandard forms
- Mandarin pinyin
- Occitan nouns
- Occitan countable nouns
- oc:Mammals
- Old Provençal terms derived from Latin
- Old Provençal conjunctions
- Old Provençal adverbs
- Scots verbs
- Scottish Gaelic verbs
- Spanish terms derived from Latin
- Spanish nouns
- Turkish terms derived from Persian
- Turkish nouns
- Venetian nouns
- Welsh adjectives
- Welsh nouns