Можно избежать ошибки.

Here можно means it is possible to, you can, or one can.

It is an impersonal word, so Russian does not need a subject like it.
So Можно избежать ошибки literally feels like:

It is possible to avoid a mistake.

In natural English, that often becomes:

• You can avoid the mistake.
• It is possible to avoid a mistake.
• One can avoid the mistake.

Because this is an impersonal construction.

Russian often expresses general possibility without naming who is doing the action. English usually needs something like you, one, or it, but Russian does not.

So:

• Можно избежать ошибки = It is possible to avoid the mistake / You can avoid the mistake

If you want to say who it is possible for, Russian can add a dative noun or pronoun:

• Мне можно избежать ошибки? = Can I avoid the mistake? / Is it possible for me to avoid the mistake?

But in your sentence, no person is specified, so it sounds general.

Because можно is commonly followed by an infinitive.

This pattern is very common in Russian:

• можно + infinitive = can / may / it is possible to ...

Examples:

• Можно войти. = You may come in.
• Можно спросить? = May I ask?
• Можно избежать ошибки. = It is possible to avoid a mistake.

So избежать stays in the dictionary form, not conjugated.

Because the verb избежать requires the genitive case, not the accusative.

That is one of the key things learners need to memorize with this verb.

• nominative: ошибка
• accusative: ошибку
• genitive singular: ошибки

So:

• избежать ошибки = to avoid a mistake

This is different from many English verbs, because English does not show this kind of case marking on nouns.

A useful pair to remember is:

• избегать ошибки / ошибок
• избежать ошибки / ошибок

Both verbs typically take the genitive.

This is a matter of aspect.

• избежать = perfective
• избегать = imperfective

In this sentence, избежать presents the action as a complete result: to avoid successfully.

So:

• Можно избежать ошибки. = It is possible to avoid the mistake / make sure the mistake does not happen.

If you used избегать, the meaning would be more like to avoid in general, to be avoiding, or to have a habit/strategy of avoiding:

• Можно избегать ошибок. = You can avoid mistakes / It is possible to avoid making mistakes in a general sense.

So избежать sounds more like a single achieved avoidance, while избегать sounds more ongoing or habitual.

Grammatically, ошибки is genitive singular, so it means of a mistake / of the mistake.

Russian has no articles, so context decides whether English should use:

• a mistake
• the mistake

Without more context, English could translate it either way:

• It is possible to avoid a mistake.
• It is possible to avoid the mistake.

If Russian wanted to clearly mean plural mistakes, it would usually be:

• ошибок = genitive plural

So:

• Можно избежать ошибок. = You can avoid mistakes.

Yes, depending on context, that is a reasonable English rendering.

Literally, the Russian structure is closer to:

• It is possible to avoid a mistake
• One can avoid the mistake

But English sometimes prefers a passive-style translation:

• Mistakes can be avoided

That said, the Russian sentence itself is not grammatically passive. It uses можно + infinitive, which is an impersonal construction.

Both are natural, but they mean slightly different things.

• Можно избежать ошибки = It is possible to avoid a mistake / the mistake
• Можно избежать ошибок = It is possible to avoid mistakes

The plural version is often more general and may sound more natural in broad advice or instruction.
The singular version can sound like:

• one particular mistake
• any single mistake
• a mistake as a type, in a generalizing way

So the better choice depends on context.

Yes. Russian word order is flexible.

The neutral order here is:

• Можно избежать ошибки.

But you could also say:

• Ошибки можно избежать.

This version puts more focus on ошибки. It can feel like:

• The mistake can be avoided
• As for the mistake, it can be avoided

So the core meaning stays similar, but the emphasis changes.

The stress is:

• мОжно
• избежАть
• ошИбки

So roughly:

мОжно избежАть ошИбки

A very approximate English-style pronunciation would be:

MOZH-na eez-bye-ZHAT a-SHEEB-kee

A few notes:

• ж sounds like the s in measure
• ы in ошибки is a Russian vowel with no exact English equivalent
• unstressed о in можно is pronounced closer to a, but the stress is still on the first syllable

Yes. Можно can express either:

• possibility: can / it is possible to
• permission: may

For example:

• Можно войти? = May I come in?

In Можно избежать ошибки, it is not really about permission. It is about possibility:

• It is possible to avoid the mistake
• You can avoid making this mistake

So here можно is best understood as can / it is possible to, not may.

Yes, it is a complete and natural sentence.

Russian often allows very short impersonal sentences like this:

• Можно начать. = We can begin.
• Нельзя курить. = Smoking is not allowed.
• Можно избежать ошибки. = It is possible to avoid the mistake.

Even though English often wants a clearer subject, Russian does not need one here. The sentence is complete as it stands.