▎可以, kĕyĭ, (Vaux), Possibility (2)

 

Function 可以 as a Vaux can also refer to the possibility of an event.

1 這個字也可以這樣寫。

Zhè ge zì yě kěyǐ zhèyàng xiě.

This character can also be written like this.

2 二手車可以賣給朋友啊！

Èrshǒu chē kěyǐ mài gěi péngyǒu a!

Second-hand cars can be sold to friends.

3 我家不大，但可以住五、六個人。

Wǒ jiā bú dà, dàn kěyǐ zhù wǔ, liù ge rén.

My house isn’t big, but it can accommodate five or six people.

 

Structures As a Vaux, 可以2 has exactly the same syntactic structures as 可以1.

 

Usage

(1) Note that possibility-可以 can only be used in the positive. 不可以can only be interpreted as the negation of 可以1, e.g., 你不可以天天吃肉。Nǐ bù kěyǐ tiāntiān chī ròu. ‘You shall not eat meat every day.’

(2) 可以 can mean different things. Permission-可以 has been dealt with above. That is distinguished from possibility-可以, e.g., 你可以教我嗎？Nǐ kěyǐ jiāo wǒ ma? ‘Can you teach me?’.

(3) 不可以 can only be used to indicate ‘permission’, not ‘possibility’. The negative form can only be used to indicate permission. For example, ‘你不可以說老闆不好’ Nǐ bù kěyǐ shuō lǎobǎn bù hǎo. ‘You mustn’t say anything bad about the boss.’ When you use ‘可不可以’ or ‘可以不可以’, it can indicate either permission or possibility. For example,

1 你可不可以明天來？(possibility)

Nǐ kě bù kěyǐ míngtiān lái?

Can you come tomorrow?

2 我可以不可以買一支新手機？(permission)

Wǒ kěyǐ bù kěyǐ mǎi yì zhī xīn shǒujī?

Can I buy a new cellphone?