يُمْكِنُ is the workhorse formal-MSA expression for “it is possible” and “someone can.” Its grammar is not the same as English can: Arabic normally keeps the verb in the third-person masculine singular and presents the possible event in an أن + subjunctive clause. A person for whom the action is possible appears with لـ or, very commonly, as an attached object pronoun: يمكن لي / يمكنني “it is possible for me.”
The verb belongs to Form IV of the sound root م-ك-ن, the family of مكان “place,” مكانة “status,” and مكّن “enable.” Its older lexical syntax helps explain the modal construction: a matter “became feasible for” someone. Modern speakers often experience يمكن أن... as an impersonal modal frame rather than as an ordinary personally conjugated verb.
Unlike formal ينبغي, which evaluates an action as advisable or fitting, يمكن says that an action is possible. Something can be possible without being recommended.
Lookup card and principal parts
| Item | Verified form | Use |
|---|---|---|
| root and Form | م-ك-ن، Form IV | sound root; hamzated derived stem in the perfect |
| perfect | أَمْكَنَ | was or proved feasible; was possible for someone, in lexical use |
| imperfect indicative | يُمْكِنُ | is possible; can |
| imperative, 2 m.sg. | أَمْكِنْ | morphologically regular but not used as the ordinary command “be able” |
| verbal noun | إِمْكَانٌ | possibility, feasibility |
| active participle | مُمْكِنٌ | possible, feasible |
| passive | أُمْكِنَ — يُمْكَنُ | formable but marginal; avoid as a core learner pattern |
| ordinary negative | لَا يُمْكِنُ | is not possible; cannot |
The useful principal-parts chain is أَمْكَنَ — يُمْكِنُ — إِمْكَانًا — مُمْكِنٌ. The initial hamza belongs to the Form-IV perfect and verbal noun; it is absent from the imperfect prefix. The form يَمْكُنُ with fatḥa on يـ is not the standard vocalization of this Form-IV modal.
يمكن أن يتغير الموعد إذا تأخرت الموافقة.
yumkinu ʾan yataghayyara l-mawʿidu ʾidhā taʾakhkharati l-muwāfaqa.
The date may change if approval is delayed. (Formal neutral.)
أمكن حل المشكلة من دون شراء جهاز جديد.
ʾamkana ḥallu l-mushkilati min dūni shirāʾi jihāzin jadīd.
It proved possible to solve the problem without buying a new device. (Formal; perfect lexical-modal use.)
Ranked meanings and frames
1. An event is possible: يمكن أن + subjunctive
With no person named, يمكن أن... says that circumstances allow an event or that the event may occur. أن places the following imperfect in the subjunctive: يمكن أن نبدأَ and يمكن أن يشاركوا. English may translate this as it is possible to, may, or can, depending on the subject inside the clause.
يمكن أن نبدأ الاجتماع قبل وصول المدير.
yumkinu ʾan nabdaʾa l-ijtimāʿa qabla wuṣūli l-mudīr.
We can start the meeting before the director arrives. (Formal neutral.)
قد تتغير النتيجة، لكن لا يمكن أن نتأكد الآن.
qad tataghayyaru n-natījatu, lākin lā yumkinu ʾan nataʾakkada l-ʾān.
The result may change, but we cannot be certain now. (Formal.)
2. Possibility for a person: يمكن لـ + person + أن
يمكن للطالب أن... explicitly marks the person as the beneficiary or experiencer of the available possibility. This is especially clear with a full noun phrase. The person is not the grammatical subject of يمكن; it is the subject of the following verb.
يمكن للزوار حجز التذاكر عبر الموقع.
yumkinu liz-zuwwāri ḥajzu t-tadhākiri ʿabra l-mawqiʿ.
Visitors can book tickets through the website. (Formal informational style.)
يمكن للطالبات أن يطلبن نسخة إلكترونية من الكتاب.
yumkinu liṭ-ṭālibāti ʾan yaṭlubna nuskhatan ʾilikturūniyyatan mina l-kitāb.
The female students can request an electronic copy of the book. (Formal.)
3. Attached experiencers: يمكنني، يمكنك، يمكنه
With pronouns, contemporary MSA strongly favors the compact object suffix: يمكنني “I can,” يمكنك “you can,” يمكنه “he can,” يمكنها “she can,” and يمكنهم “they can.” The full يمكن لي remains grammatical but is often heavier. The suffix marks the person for whom the action is feasible; it does not turn يمكن into a first-person verb.
يمكنني إرسال النسخة النهائية مساء اليوم.
yumkinunī ʾirsālu n-nuskhati n-nihāʾiyyati masāʾa l-yawm.
I can send the final copy this evening. (Formal neutral.)
هل يمكنك أن تشرح هذه النقطة بمثال آخر؟
hal yumkinuka ʾan tashraḥa hādhihi n-nuqṭata bi-mithālin ʾākhar?
Could you explain this point with another example? (Polite formal request.)
4. Lexical أمكن and “whenever possible”
Perfect أمكن is alive in compact formal expressions: إذا أمكن “if possible,” إن أمكن “if feasible,” and كلما أمكن “whenever possible.” In older or elevated transitive syntax, a matter can be the subject and a person an object: أمكنه الأمر “the matter was feasible for him.” Modern prose usually chooses تمكن من when it wants an agentive “managed/succeeded in,” and مكّن شخصا من for “enabled someone to.”
يرجى إرفاق النسخة الأصلية، إن أمكن.
yurjā ʾirfāqu n-nuskhati l-ʾaṣliyyati, ʾin ʾamkan.
Please attach the original copy, if possible. (Formal administrative style.)
نعيد استخدام المواد كلما أمكن.
nuʿīdu stikhdāma l-mawāddi kullamā ʾamkan.
We reuse materials whenever possible. (Formal-neutral.)
ممكن and إمكان
The active participle ممكن is an ordinary adjective meaning “possible” or “feasible”: حل ممكن “a possible solution.” The noun إمكان appears in إمكان الوصول “the possibility of access” and the set phrase في الإمكان “within the realm of possibility.” من الممكن أن... is a fully standard alternative to يمكن أن..., slightly more nominal in style.
من الممكن أن يصل الرد غدا.
mina l-mumkini ʾan yaṣila r-raddu ghadan.
It is possible that the reply will arrive tomorrow. (Formal neutral.)
هذا حل ممكن، لكنه مكلف.
hādhā ḥallun mumkinun, lākinnahu mukallif.
This is a possible solution, but it is expensive. (Formal neutral.)
Government contrast and high-frequency collocations
| Frame | Meaning |
|---|---|
| يُمْكِنُ أَنْ نَفْعَلَ | it is possible for us to do; we can do |
| يُمْكِنُ لَنَا أَنْ نَفْعَلَ | it is possible for us to do, with the experiencer explicit |
| يُمْكِنُنَا أَنْ نَفْعَلَ | we can do, compact and very common |
| مِنَ الْمُمْكِنِ أَنْ | it is possible that/to (nominal formal alternative) |
| إِذَا / إِنْ أَمْكَنَ | if possible (formal) |
| قَدْرَ الْإِمْكَانِ | as far as possible |
| بِأَسْرَعِ وَقْتٍ مُمْكِنٍ | as soon as possible |
Common Mistakes
Conjugating يمكن to agree with the people who can act
❌ يمكنون أن يدخلوا الآن.
Incorrect for the modal meaning ‘they can’; the impersonal modal remains يمكن.
✅ يمكنهم أن يدخلوا الآن.
yumkinuhum ʾan yadkhulū l-ʾān.
They can enter now.
Keeping the indicative after أن
❌ يمكن أن نبدأ الاجتماع.
yumkinu ʾan nabdaʾu l-ijtimāʿ
Incorrect reading—the unvocalized spelling hides the issue, but indicative nabdaʾu is not licensed after أن.
✅ يمكن أن نبدأ الاجتماع.
yumkinu ʾan nabdaʾa l-ijtimāʿ.
We can begin the meeting. (Read نبدأَ in the subjunctive.)
Using يمكن when the meaning is “managed to”
❌ يمكن الفريق من إصلاح الخلل أمس.
Incorrect for a completed achievement—the intended meaning is not present possibility.
✅ تمكن الفريق من إصلاح الخلل أمس.
tamakkana l-farīqu min ʾiṣlāḥi l-khalali ʾams.
The team managed to repair the fault yesterday.
Confusing the modal with “enable”
❌ يمكن هذا النظام للمستخدمين من حفظ الملفات.
Incorrect—the modal frame cannot combine a لـ experiencer with من + verbal noun in this way.
✅ يمكن هذا النظام المستخدمين من حفظ الملفات.
yumakkinu hādhā n-niẓāmu l-mustakhdimīna min ḥifẓi l-malaffāt.
This system enables users to save files.
Key Takeaways
- Use fixed يمكن أن + subjunctive for general possibility.
- Add a full experiencer with لـ or a pronoun as يمكنني، يمكنك، يمكنهم.
- Use تمكن من for achieved ability and مكّن ... من for enabling someone.
- Recognize أمكن chiefly in formal expressions such as إذا أمكن and كلما أمكن.
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Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- ينبغي — express formal advisability in a largely fixed imperfect formB2 — Use ينبغي for formal recommendations, choose its أن-clause and beneficiary frames, and express time and negation idiomatically.
- احتاج — need with إلى and a hollow Form VIII stemB1 — Conjugate احتاج through its hollow-stem changes and connect people, things, and actions with إلى.
- كان — beA2 — Reference the hollow verb كان across its full paradigm, copular and existential senses, predicate case, conditionals, and high-frequency collocations.
- Form IV أفعلA2 — Recognize Form IV through its permanent hamzat al-qaṭʿ and learn when its lexical verbs express causation, entry into a state, or neither.