may in Chinese
kě yǐ ·may; can (permission); acceptable ·9 strokes HSK 1
may in Chinese is 可以, pronounced kě yǐ.
How to write 可以
Animated stroke order. Tap a character to replay its stroke order.
Stroke order of 可
Stroke order of 以
HSK level
HSK 1可以 is listed in the official HSK vocabulary at HSK 1. The beginner band covers the first, most essential words every learner needs.
可以 in a sentence
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我 可 以 进 来 吗 ？May I come in?
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这 里 可 以 停 车 。You can park here.
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这 里 不 可 以 抽 烟 。No smoking allowed here.
可以 vs 能 vs 会
Similar and easily confused words, and how they differ.
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能 expresses ability or feasibility; 可以 expresses permission — 这里可以停车 'you can park here' is about being allowed.
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会 = a learned skill or future likelihood — 我会中文 'I can speak Chinese'. 可以 = permission or 'acceptable'.