можно

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Russian

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Etymology

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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

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  • IPA(key): [ˈmoʐnə]
  • Audio:(file)

Predicative

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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
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Antonyms

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Usage notes

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  • 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).