可

kè
#30 most
frequent character
used in 可汗[ke4 han2]

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

可 pairs 口 mouth with a sound part written 可 without 口 in old forms. The mouth ties to the first meaning, 'to sing'. The sense 'to affirm' was borrowed for sound only, then grew to 'true' and 'able'.

可 as a component in other characters

meaning1 character
哥
sound18 characters
何阿奇河哥呵柯苛珂诃轲坷舸岢疴哿

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Same Characters, Different Readings

可kě
can, may, approve, be worth, suit

Homophones

HSK 2
课kè
subject, course, class, lesson
HSK 3
刻kè
quarter (hour), moment, to carve
客kè
customer, visitor, guest

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