FluentPlex

can

/kæn/ verb A1
  1. To know how to. · She can speak English, French, and German.· I can play football.
  2. To be able to. · Can you remember your fifth birthday?· Animals can experience emotions.
  3. May; to be permitted or enabled to. (informal) · You can go outside and play when you're finished with your homework.· Can I use your pen?
  4. To have the potential to; to be possible for (someone or something) to. · Can it be Friday already?· You can not only learn English here, you can also practice with native speakers.
  5. Used to form requests, typically polite. (informal) · Can you please come over here?· Can we try that scene again?
  6. To be able to or know how to (do something); an accompanying verb is not required if it is already inferable from context. (intransitive) · Can anot?
  7. To be fine or acceptable; to be possible; (with liao or already) to be enough. Often used in conjunction with a variety of clause-final particles, e.g., lah, meh or one, to express different attitudes towards the subject matter. (intransitive) · Can liao, don’t need to use so much glue.

Plural can · He/she/it can · Past could · -ing form able

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Verb forms

Base form
can
He/she/it
can
Past
could
Past participle
been able
-ing form
able

An irregular verb: learn its past and past participle by heart.

From the library

And so I came,” added Caderousse, “as fast as I could to have the pleasure of shaking hands with a friend.”
The Count of Monte Cristo, p. 16 · C1
So they oiled his legs until he could move them freely; and he thanked them again and again for his release, for he seemed a very polite creature, and very grateful.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, p. 27 · B2
“Do you suppose Oz could give me a heart?”
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, p. 27 · B2
The Tin Woodman had asked Dorothy to put the oil-can in her basket.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, p. 27 · B2

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Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.