HSK Level 5

can; may; approve; be worth; suit; but; yet

Mobile & Tablet App

Master with Writing Practice

Practice writing with stroke order guidance, audio pronunciation, and interactive exercises in our mobile app.

Step-by-step stroke order animations

Native speaker audio pronunciation

Interactive writing recognition

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Character writing practice in mobile app

Example Sentences

你可以去吗?

nǐ kěyǐ qù ma?

Can you go?

你可以帮我吗?

nǐ kěyǐ bāng wǒ ma?

Can you help me?

你可以给我一些钱吗?

nǐ kěyǐ gěi wǒ yīxiē qián ma?

Can you give me some money?

Synonyms

能够 (nénggòu)

able to

可以 (kěyǐ)

can

Antonyms

不可 (bù kě)

impossible

不能 (bù néng)

unable

Etymology & Components

The Chinese character 可 (kě) is composed of two parts: the radical 口 (kǒu), which means "mouth," and the phonetic component 可 (kě), which is a simplified form of the character 可 (kě), which means "to be able to." The original meaning of 可 was "to speak," and it was later extended to mean "to be able to," "to be possible," or "to be acceptable."The character 可 is often used in combination with other characters to form words and phrases. For example, the word 可能 (kěnéng) means "possible," and the word 可以 (kěyǐ) means "can" or "may." 可 is also used in the names of many Chinese dishes, such as 可乐鸡翅 (kělè jīchì), which means "Coca-Cola chicken wings."The character 可 is a versatile character that can be used in a variety of contexts. It is an important character for HSK learners to know, as it is used frequently in both spoken and written Chinese.