different between could vs can

English

Alternative forms

• coud (obsolete)
• cou’d (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English coude, couthe, cuthe, from Old English c?þe, past indicative and past subjunctive form of cunnan (“to be able”) (compare related c?þ, whence English couth). The 'l' was added in the early 16th century by analogy with should and would; this was probably helped by the tendency for 'l' to be lost in those words (and so not written, leading to shudd, wode, etc).

Pronunciation

• (stressed) IPA^(key): /k?d/, [k??d]
• (unstressed) IPA^(key): /k?d/, [k??d]
• Rhymes: -?d

Verb

could

1. simple past tense of can

   Before I was blind, I could see very well.

2. conditional of can
   1. Used as a past subjunctive (contrary to fact).

      I think he could do it if he really wanted to.

      I wish I could fly!

   2. Used to politely ask for permission to do something.

   3. Used to politely ask for someone else to do something.

   4. Used to show the possibility that something might happen.

   5. Used to suggest something.

Usage notes

• Some speakers and writers consider it wrong to use could to refer to permission. Such people favor replacing it with might, just as they favor replacing can with may when referring to permission.

Derived terms

• could care less
• could've
• couldn't (negative form of could)
• couldst (archaic second-person of could)

Related terms

• can
• should
• would

Noun

could (plural coulds)

1. Something that could happen, or could be the case, under different circumstances; a potentiality.

See also

• Appendix:English modal verbs
• Appendix:English tag questions

References

Anagrams

• Cloud, cloud, culdo-

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English can, first and third person singular of connen, cunnen (“to be able, know how”), from Old English can(n), first and third person singular of cunnan (“to know how”), from Proto-Germanic *kunnan?, from Proto-Indo-European *?neh?- (whence know). Compare West Frisian kinne, Dutch kunnen, Low German könen, German können, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål kunne, Swedish and Norwegian Nynorsk kunna, and Afrikaans kan. Doublet of con. See also: canny, cunning.

Alternative forms

• canne (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• (stressed)
  • enPR: k?n
  • (Received Pronunciation, Ireland) IPA^(key): /?kæn/, [?k?an], [?k?æn]
  • (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /?kæn/, [?k?æn], [?k???n], [?k?e?n] (see w:/æ/ raising)
    • (Philadelphia) IPA^(key): /?k?n/
  • Rhymes: -æn
• (unstressed)
  • IPA^(key): /k?n/, [k??n], [k?n?]

Verb

can (third-person singular simple present can, no present participle, simple past could, past participle (obsolete except in adjectival use) couth)

1. (auxiliary verb, defective) To know how to; to be able to.

   Synonym: be able to

   Antonyms: cannot, can't, can’t

   • 1449, Reginald Pecock, Represser of over-much weeting [blaming] of the Clergie

     prouyng which eny clerk can or woel or mai make bi eny maner euydence of resoun or of Scripture, and namelich of resoun into the contrarie.
2. (modal auxiliary verb, defective, informal) May; to be permitted or enabled to.

   Synonym: may

3. (modal auxiliary verb, defective) To have the potential to; be possible.
4. (auxiliary verb, defective) Used with verbs of perception.

5. (obsolete, transitive) To know.

   Synonyms: cognize, grok, ken

   • ca.1360-1387, William Langland, Piers Plowman

     I can rimes of Robin Hood.

   • ca.1360-1387, William Langland, Piers Plowman

     I can no Latin, quod she.

Usage notes

• For missing forms, substitute inflected forms of be able to, as:
  • I might be able to go.
  • I was able to go yesterday.
  • I have been able to go, since I was seven.
  • I had been able to go before.
  • I will be able to go tomorrow.
• The word could also suffices in many tenses. “I would be able to go” is equivalent to “I could go”, and “I was unable to go” can be rendered “I could not go”. (Unless there is a clear indication otherwise, “could verb” means “would be able to verb”, but “could not verb” means “was/were unable to verb”.)
• The present tense negative can not is usually contracted to cannot (more formal) or can’t (less formal).
• The use of can in asking permission sometimes is criticized as being impolite or incorrect by those who favour the more formal alternative “may I...?”.
• Can is sometimes used rhetorically to issue a command, placing the command in the form of a request. For instance, “Can you hand me that pen?” as a polite substitution for “Hand me that pen.”
• Some US dialects that glottalize the final /t/ in can’t (/kæn(?)/), in order to differentiate can’t from can, pronounce can as /k?n/ even when stressed.

Translations

See also

• Appendix:English modal verbs
• Appendix:English tag questions

Etymology 2

From Middle English canne, from Old English canne (“glass, container, cup, can”), from Proto-Germanic *kann? (“can, tankard, mug, cup”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gan-, *gand?- (“a vessel”). Cognate with Scots can (“can”), West Frisian kanne (“a jug, pitcher”), Dutch kan (“pot, mug”), German Kanne (“can, tankard, mug”), Danish kande (“can, mug, a measure”), Swedish kanna (“can, tankard, mug”), Icelandic kanna (“a can”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: k?n, IPA^(key): /?kæn/
  • Rhymes: -æn
• (General Australian, Southern England) IPA^(key): /?kæ?n/
  • Rhymes: -æ?n
• (æ-tensing) IPA^(key): [?ke?n]

Noun

can (plural cans)

1. A more or less cylindrical vessel for liquids, usually of steel or aluminium, but sometimes of plastic, and with a carrying handle over the top.
2. A container used to carry and dispense water for plants (a watering can).
3. A tin-plate canister, often cylindrical, for preserved foods such as fruit, meat, or fish.
4. (archaic) A chamber pot, now (US, slang) a toilet or lavatory.

   Shit or get off the can.

   Bob's in the can. You can wait a few minutes or just leave it with me.

5. (US, slang) Buttocks.
6. (slang) Jail or prison.

   Bob's in the can. He won't be back for a few years.

7. (slang, in the plural) Headphones.
8. (archaic) A drinking cup.
   • ?, Alfred Tennyson, Vision of Sin

     Fill the cup and fill the can, / Have a rouse before the morn.

9. (nautical) A cube-shaped buoy or marker used to denote a port-side lateral mark
10. A chimney pot.
11. (slang, in the plural) An E-meter used in Scientology auditing.
12. (US, slang) An ounce (or sometimes, two ounces) of marijuana.
    • For quotations using this term, see Citations:can.
    • 1970, California. Supreme Court, Reports of Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of California

      […] prosecution for selling and giving away marijuana, the evidence clearly constituted substantial proof that a package purchased by defendant contained marijuana where he requested "four cans" of marijuana to be delivered to himself and […]

13. A protective cover for the fuel element in a nuclear reactor.

Synonyms

• (toilet): See Thesaurus:chamber pot and Thesaurus:toilet
• (place with a toilet): See Thesaurus:bathroom
• (cylindrical metal container): tin (British & Australian at least)

Hyponyms

Derived terms

• kick-the-can
• shitcan

Related terms

Translations

Verb

can (third-person singular simple present cans, present participle canning, simple past and past participle canned)

1. To seal in a can.

2. To preserve by heating and sealing in a jar or can.

3. To discard, scrap or terminate (an idea, project, etc.).
4. (transitive, slang) To shut up.

5. (US, euphemistic) To fire or dismiss an employee.

6. (golf, slang, transitive) To hole the ball.
7. (transitive) To cover (the fuel element in a nuclear reactor) with a protective cover.

Synonyms

• (discard): bin, dump, scrap; see also Thesaurus:junk
• (shut up): can it, stifle; see also Thesaurus:stop talking or Thesaurus:make silent
• (dismiss an employee): axe, let go, shit-can; see also Thesaurus:lay off

Derived terms

• decan, recan, uncan
• canner, canning

Translations

Anagrams

• ANC, CNA, NAC, NCA

Afar

Etymology

From Proto-Cushitic [Term?]. Cognates include Somali caano and Oromo aannan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???n/

Noun

cán m (plural caanowá f)

1. milk

Inflection

References

• Loren F. Bliese (1981) A Generative Grammar of Afar?^[1], Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and University of Texas at Arlington (doctoral thesis).
• Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015) L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)?^[2], Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis)

Aragonese

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

can m (plural cans)

1. dog

References

• Bal Palazios, Santiago (2002) , “can”, in Dizionario breu de a luenga aragonesa, Zaragoza, ?ISBN

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin canis, canem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka?/

Noun

can m (plural canes)

1. dog (animal)

Synonyms

• perru

Azerbaijani

Etymology

From Persian ???? (jân).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [d???n], [d?z?n]

Noun

can (definite accusative can?, plural canlar)

1. soul, spirit
2. being, creature, life
3. body
4. force, vigour

Declension

Derived terms

Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?kan/

Contraction

can

1. Contraction of ca en (“the house of”).

Further reading

• “can” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Classical Nahuatl

Alternative forms

• c?nin

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka?n/

Pronoun

c?n

1. where

Derived terms

• campa
• canah

Related terms

Galician

Alternative forms

• cão (reintegrationist)
• cam (reintegrationist)

Etymology 1

From Old Galician and Old Portuguese can, from Latin canis, canem. Cognate with Portuguese cão.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ka?/

Noun

can m (plural cans)

1. dog
2. (historical) 20th century 5, 10 cents of peseta coin

Related terms

• cadela
• caíño
• cairo
• can de palleiro
• dente cairo

Etymology 2

From Old Galician and Old Portuguese quan, from Latin quam. Cognate with Portuguese quão and Spanish cuan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ka?/

Noun

can m (plural cans)

1. how

Etymology 3

Ultimately from Turkic *qan, contraction of *qa?an.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ka?/

Noun

can m (plural cans)

1. khan

References

• “can” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006-2012.
• “can” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006-2016.
• “can” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006-2013.
• “can” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “can” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Interlingua

Noun

can (plural canes)

1. dog
2. cock, hammer (of a firearm)

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish canaid, from Proto-Celtic *kaneti (“to sing”), from Proto-Indo-European *keh?n-. Compare Welsh canu, Latin can?, Ancient Greek ??????? (kanakhé?), Persian ??????? (xândan).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kan?/

Verb

can (present analytic canann, future analytic canfaidh, verbal noun canadh, past participle canta)

1. to sing

Conjugation

Mutation

Istriot

Etymology

From Latin canis.

Noun

can m

1. dog

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kan/

Etymology 1

From Turkic.

Alternative forms

• cane

Noun

can m (invariable)

1. Obsolete spelling of khan

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Noun

can m (plural cani)

1. (poetic, literary) Apocopic form of cane; dog

Ligurian

Alternative forms

• càn

Etymology

From Latin canem, accusative form of canis, from earlier can?s, from Proto-Italic *k? (accusative *kwanem), from Proto-Indo-European *?w? (accusative *?wónm?).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka?/

Noun

can m (plural chen, diminutive cagnetto or cagnin, feminine cagna)

1. dog, male dog

Related terms

• cagnara

Mandarin

Romanization

can

1. Nonstandard spelling of c?n.
2. Nonstandard spelling of cán.
3. Nonstandard spelling of c?n.
4. Nonstandard spelling of càn.

Usage notes

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Middle Dutch

Verb

can

1. first/third-person singular present indicative of connen

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

can

1. Alternative form of canne

Etymology 2

Verb

can

1. Alternative form of cunnen

Northern Kurdish

Etymology

Related to Persian ???? (jân).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d????n/

Noun

can ?

1. soul

Occitan

Etymology

From Old Occitan [Term?], from Latin canis, canem.

Noun

can m (plural cans, feminine canha, feminine plural canhas)

1. dog, hound

Old Occitan

Alternative forms

• quan

Etymology

From Latin quand?.

Conjunction

can

1. when

Adverb

can

1. (interrogative) when

Descendants

• Catalan: quan
• Occitan: quand

Old Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin canis (“dog”), from Proto-Indo-European *?w? (“dog”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kã/

Noun

can m

1. dog
   • 13th century, Cancioneiro da Biblioteca Nacional, Alfonso X of Castile, B 476: Non quer'eu donzela fea (facsimile)

     Non quereu donzela fea / E uelo?a come cam

     I do not want an ugly maiden, as hairy as a dog

Descendants

• Galician: can
• Portuguese: cão

Scots

Etymology

From Middle English can, first and third person singular of connen, cunnen (“to be able, know how”), from Old English can(n), first and third person singular of cunnan (“to know how”), from Proto-West Germanic *kunnan, from Proto-Germanic *kunnan?, from Proto-Indo-European *?neh?- (whence know).

Verb

can (third-person singular present can, past cud)

1. can
2. be able to

Derived terms

• cannae (“cannot”)

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish canaid (“to sing”), from Proto-Celtic *kaneti (“to sing”), from Proto-Indo-European *keh?n-. Compare Welsh canu, Latin can?, Ancient Greek ??????? (kanakhé?), Persian ??????? (xândan).

Verb

can (past chan, future canaidh, verbal noun cantainn, past participle cante)

1. to say

References

• “can” in Edward Dwelly, Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan/The Illustrated [Scottish] Gaelic–English Dictionary, 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, 1911, ?ISBN.

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin canis, canem, from Proto-Italic *k? (accusative *kwanem), from Proto-Indo-European *?w? (accusative *?wónm?). Compare Catalan ca, Occitan can, French chien, Italian cane, Portuguese cão, Romanian câine and Aromanian cãne, cãni.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kan/, [?kãn]
• Rhymes: -an

Noun

can m (plural canes)

1. (formal) dog, hound

   Synonyms: perro, (colloquial) chucho

Hypernyms

• cánido

Hyponyms

• cachorro

Related terms

• canijo
• canino

Further reading

• “can” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

Turkish

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish ????, from Persian ???? (jân, “soul, vital spirit, life”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d?an/

Noun

can (definite accusative can?, plural canlar)

1. soul, life, being
2. sweetheart

Declension

See also

• Can

Venetian

Etymology

From Latin canis, canem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka?/

Noun

can m (plural cani)

1. dog

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà N?i) IPA^(key): [ka?n??]
• (Hu?) IPA^(key): [ka????]
• (H? Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ka????]

Etymology 1

Sino-Vietnamese word from ?.

Noun

can

1. (alternative medicine) liver

Etymology 2

Sino-Vietnamese word from ?.

Noun

can

1. Short for Thiên Can (“celestial stem”).

Verb

can

1. to concern; to apply to
2. to be involved (in); to be implicated (in)

Etymology 3

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese ? (SV: gián).

Verb

can

1. to dissuade (someone from doing something); to intervene

Etymology 4

From English canne.

Noun

(classifier cây, cái) can

1. walking stick

Etymology 5

Verb

can

1. to join; to unite; to sew together

Etymology 6

From French calque.

Verb

can

1. to trace (through translucent paper), to do tracing

Derived terms

Volapük

Noun

can (nominative plural cans)

1. sales commodity, merchandise, wares

Declension

Welsh

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kan/

Etymology 1

Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kand- (“to shine, glow”).

See also Ancient Greek ???????? (kándaros, “charcoal”), Albanian hënë (“moon”), Sanskrit ?????? (candrá, “shining”) and Old Armenian ???? (xand).

Adjective

can (feminine singular can, plural can, equative canned, comparative cannach, superlative cannaf)

1. bleached, white

Noun

can m (plural caniau)

1. flour

Derived terms

• cannaid (“bright, refulgent”)
• cannu (“to bleach, to whiten”)

Etymology 2

From Proto-Celtic *kantom (“hundred”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *?m?tóm.

Numeral

can

1. hundred

Usage notes

This is the form the number cant (“hundred”) takes when it precedes a noun.

Etymology 3

From English can.

Noun

can m (plural caniau)

1. a can

Mutation

See also

• cân

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present) , “can”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
• Definition from the BBC.

Yucatec Maya

Etymology 1

Numeral

can

1. Obsolete spelling of kan

Etymology 2

Noun

can

1. Obsolete spelling of kaan