Possible vs Can - What's the difference?
possible | can |
(usually, not comparable) Able but not certain to happen; neither inevitable nor impossible.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8
, passage=The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again;
(comparable) Capable of being done or achieved; feasible.
* {{quote-book, 1901, Louis Freeland Smith, The Public, volume=4, page=438, pageurl=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.30000080738168&page=search;seq=444;view=image;num=438
, passage=And success in minor degree, in the sense in which he uses the term "success," is only somewhat more possible than success in winning the White House chair.}}
* {{quote-news, 1993, September 10, Lee Michael Katz, Expectant Mideast hopes to bear twin peace deals, USA Today, page=2A
, passage=Peace between Israel and the Arab countries is "more possible than any time before," says ex-Arab League U.N. ambassador Clovis Maskoud. }}
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=72-3, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Being considered, e.g. for a position.
A possible one
(colloquial, rare) A possible choice, notably someone being considered for a position.
(rare) A particular event that may happen.
To know how to; to be able to.
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=
, title= May; to be permitted or enabled to.
To be possible, usually with be .
* {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers)
, chapter=5, title= To know.
* ca.1360-1387 , (William Langland), (Piers Plowman)
* ca.1360-1387 , (William Langland), (Piers Plowman)
* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
A more or less cylindrical vessel for liquids, usually of steel or aluminium.
A container used to carry and dispense water for plants (a watering can ).
A tin-plate canister, often cylindrical, for preserved foods such as fruit, meat, or fish.
(US, slang) toilet, bathroom.
(US, slang) buttocks.
(slang) jail or prison.
(slang) headphones.
(obsolete) A drinking cup.
* Tennyson
To preserve, by heating and sealing in a can or jar.
to discard, scrap or terminate (an idea, project, etc.).
To shut up.
(US, euphemistic) To fire or dismiss an employee.
As nouns the difference between possible and can
is that possible is a possible one while can is song.As an adjective possible
is (usually|not comparable) able but not certain to happen; neither inevitable nor impossible.As a verb can is
(lb).possible
English
Adjective
(en-adj)citation
A punch in the gut, passage=Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible . Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.}}
Derived terms
* as much as possible * ASAP (as soon as possible) * possiblyAntonyms
* (able but not certain to happen) certain, inevitable, impossible * (capable of being done) impossibleNoun
(en noun)- Jones is a possible for the new opening in sales.
Synonyms
* possibility * optionAntonyms
* impossible * no-goStatistics
*External links
* *Anagrams
* 1000 English basic words ----can
English
(wikipedia can)Etymology 1
From (etyl) (m) (first and third person singular of , Danish (m). More at canny, cunning.Verb
Lee S. Langston, magazine=(American Scientist)
The Adaptable Gas Turbine, passage=Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo'', meaning ''vortex , and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.}}
A Cuckoo in the Nest, passage=The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite.
- I can rimes of Robin Hood.
- I can no Latin, quod she.
- Let the priest in surplice white, / That defunctive music can .
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 often contracted to ''cannot'' or ''can't . * 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'' ( even when stressed.Synonyms
* be able to * mayAntonyms
* cannot * can’tSee also
*Etymology 2
From (etyl) canne, from (etyl) .Noun
(en noun)- (Shakespeare)
- Fill the cup and fill the can , / Have a rouse before the morn.
Synonyms
* (cylindrical metal container) tinDerived terms
* beer can * can opener * carry the can * garbage can * kick at the can * kick the can / kick-the-can * kick the can down the road * trash canVerb
(cann)- They spent August canning fruit and vegetables.
- He canned the whole project because he thought it would fail.
- Can your gob.
- The boss canned him for speaking out.