Skip to main content
PlainSpell

can

/kæn/verb, interjection, particle, noun

can is spelled C-A-N: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 2,884 times per million words in written English, the 41st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Can, the name). People search “can vs cannot” about 10 times a month (Bing, United States). As a verb, can means “To know how to” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in can?

Letters3: C-A-N
Syllables1
In writing2,884 times per million words; the 41st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is can?

Can appears 2,884 times per million words in written English, the 41st most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Can, the name.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce can?

  • US /kæn/
  • US [kʰæn]
  • British /kan/

As a noun (“A container or vessel, especially for liquids, usually made…”): /ˈkæn/, /ˈkan/, /ˈkaːn/.

Can has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-can.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-I_learned_some_phrases-can.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with can

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

can vs cannot10 B

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with can?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as can from its last stressed vowel (/æn/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of can

  • able participle, present
  • could past, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • kin
  • c'
  • cans plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • canning participle, present
  • canned participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does can mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To know how to.

    She can speak English, French, and German.

  2. 2

    To be able to.

    Can you remember your fifth birthday?

  3. 3

    informalMay; to be permitted or enabled to.

    You can go outside and play when you're finished with your homework.

  4. 4

    To have the potential to; to be possible for (someone or something) to.

    Can it be Friday already?

  5. 5

    informalUsed to form requests, typically polite.

    Can you please come over here?

  6. 6

    obsoleteTo know.

    ca.1360-1387, William Langland, Piers Plowman I can rimes of Robin Hood.

  7. 7

    IndianonstandardproscribedTo be (followed by a word like able, possible, allowed). third-person singular simple present indicative of can

  8. 8

    To be able to or know how to (do something); an accompanying verb is not required if it is already inferable from context.

    Can anot?

  9. 9

    To seal in a can.

    They canned air to sell as a novelty to tourists.

  10. 10

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

    They spent August canning fruit and vegetables.

  11. 11

    To discard, scrap or terminate (an idea, project, etc.).

    He canned the whole project because he thought it would fail.

  12. 12

    slangTo shut up.

    Can your gob.

  13. 13

    USTo fire or dismiss an employee.

    The boss canned him for speaking out.

  14. 14

    slangTo hole the ball.

  15. 15

    To cover (the fuel element in a nuclear reactor) with a protective cover.

interjection

  1. 1

    OK, sure; indicates approval or acknowledgment.

  2. 2

    Used to convey reassurance.

particle

  1. 1

    OK(?); used at the end of a question when seeking approval or acknowledgment.

    I cut this wire, can?

noun

  1. 1

    A container or vessel, especially for liquids, usually made of metal.

    I keep a can of fuel for emergencies.

  2. 2

    A sealed metal container, cylindrical or cuboid in form, typically used to store preserved foods.

    Soup in a can lasts for years.

  3. 3

    A container used to carry and dispense water for plants (a watering can).

  4. 4

    archaicA chamber pot.

  5. 5

    USarchaicslanga toilet or lavatory.

    Shit or get off the can.

  6. 6

    CanadaUSslangvulgarButtocks.

  7. 7

    CanadaUSslangvulgarThe breasts of a woman.

  8. 8

    slangJail or prison.

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

noun

as CAN
  1. 1

    ceric ammonium nitrate

  2. 2

    Abbreviation of controller area network.

  3. 3

    Initialism of campus area network.

  4. 4

    Acronym of community action network.

  5. 5

    Initialism of consistent and asymptotically normal, a statistic estimator Tₙ(X₁, X₂, ..., Xₙ) is CAN (consistent and asymptotically normal) if ....

  6. 6

    AustraliaAcronym of court attendance notice.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Can in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpouvoir (to be able to; to know how to), bidon, canette (a more or less cylindrical vessel for liquids), arrosoir (a container used to carry and dispense water…), boîte de conserve (a tin-plate canister), WC (non-offensive slang for toilet – see also toilet)
Germankönnen, chöne (to be able to; to know how to), Blechdose, Kanister (a more or less cylindrical vessel for liquids), Gießkanne (a container used to carry and dispense water…), dürfen (may)
Portugueseconseguir, saber, poder (to be able to; to know how to), lata (a more or less cylindrical vessel for liquids), regador (a container used to carry and dispense water…), vaso (non-offensive slang for toilet – see also toilet)
Spanishpoder, saber (to be able to; to know how to), lata (a more or less cylindrical vessel for liquids), regadera (a container used to carry and dispense water…), enlatar (to preserve), descartar (to discard)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does can come from?

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 *kunnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (whence also know). Doublet of con. See also: canny, cunning.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after can