can

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See also Appendix:Variations of "can"

Contents

[edit] English

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Wikipedia

[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)
    • IPA: /kən/, /kn̩/, /kɪn/, SAMPA: /k@n/, /kn=/, /kIn/

[edit] Verb

- (third-person singular simple present can, present participle -, simple past could, past participle couth (obsolete except in adjective use))

  1. (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?
  2. (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?
  3. (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
to be able
may
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.
Translations to be checked

[edit] Etymology 2

Middle English, from Old English canne (“glass, container, cup”).

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

a can (3)

can (plural cans)

  1. A more or less cylindrical vessel for liquids, usually of steel or aluminium.
  2. A container used to carry and dispense water for plants (a watering can).
  3. A tin-plate canister, often cylindrical, for preserved foods such as fruit, meat, or fish.
  4. (US, slang) toilet, bathroom.
  5. (US, slang) buttocks.
  6. (slang) jail or prison.
  7. (slang) headphones.
[edit] Synonyms
  • (cylindrical metal container): tin (British & Australian at least)
[edit] Derived terms
Terms derived from the noun "can"
[edit] Translations
a more or less cylindrical vessel for liquids
a container used to carry and dispense water for plants
a tin-plate canister
toilet
buttocks
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.
Translations to be checked

[edit] Verb

can (third-person singular simple present cans, present participle canning, simple past and past participle canned)

  1. To preserve, by heating and sealing in a can or jar.
    They spent August canning fruit and vegetables.
  2. to discard, scrap or terminate (an idea, project, etc.).
    He canned the whole project because he thought it would fail.
  3. To shut up.
    Can your gob.
  4. (US, euphemistic) To fire or dismiss an employee.
    The boss canned him for speaking out.
[edit] Translations
to preserve
to discard
to shut up
to fire or dismiss an employee

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Afar

[edit] Noun

can

  1. milk

[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

  1. soul, spirit
  2. being, creature, life
  3. body
  4. force, vigour

[edit] Declension

declension of can
singular plural
absolute can canlar
definite accusative canı canları
dative cana canlara
locative canda canlarda
ablative candan canlardan
definite genitive canın canların

[edit] Classical Nahuatl

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Adverb

cān

  1. Where.

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Galician

[edit] Etymology

From Latin canis.

[edit] Noun

can m. (plural cans)

  1. dog

[edit] Related terms

[edit] Interlingua

[edit] Noun

can (plural canes)

  1. dog
  2. cock, hammer (of a firearm)

[edit] Irish

[edit] Pronunciation

  • IPA: [kan̪ˠ]

[edit] Verb

can

  1. To sing.

[edit] Inflection

First Conjugation (A)
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)

  1. (poetic and literary form of cane) dog

[edit] Mandarin

[edit] Romanization

can

  1. Nonstandard spelling of cān.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of cán.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of cǎn.
  4. 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)

  1. dog, hound

[edit] Old Provençal

[edit] Etymology

Latin quandō

[edit] Conjunction

can

  1. when

[edit] Adverb

can

  1. (interrogative) when

[edit] Scots

[edit] Verb

can

  1. can
  2. 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)

  1. say

[edit] Spanish

[edit] Etymology

From Latin canis. Compare Aromanian cãne, Portuguese cão.

[edit] Noun

can m. (plural canes)

  1. dog, hound

[edit] See also

[edit] Turkish

[edit] Etymology

From Persian جان (jân, “soul, vital spirit, life”).

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

can (definite accusative canı, plural canlar)

  1. soul, life, being
  2. sweetheart

[edit] Declension

declension of can
singular (tekil) plural (çoğul)
nominative (yalın) can canlar
definite accusative (belirtme) canı canları
dative (yönelme) cana canlara
locative (bulunma) canda canlarda
ablative (çıkma) candan canlardan
genitive (tamlayan) canın canların
possessive forms of can
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

Venetian Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia vec

can m. (plural cani)

  1. dog

[edit] Welsh

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Adjective

can

  1. bleached, white
  2. hundred

[edit] Noun

can m. (plural caniau) 

  1. a can
  2. flour

[edit] Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
can gan nghan chan

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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