Может ли существовать такой закон?

Ли is a question particle used to form a yes/no question in a more formal or neutral way.

In this sentence, ли attaches to может and gives the sense of:

• Can ... ?
• Is it possible that ... ?
• Could ... exist?

A very important pattern is:

verb + ли + rest of the sentence

So here:

• может = can / may / is able to
• ли = marks it as a yes/no question

This structure is especially common in writing, formal speech, and careful style.

In Russian, ли usually comes after the word it is focusing on or questioning. It is almost never placed first in the sentence.

So:

• Может ли существовать такой закон? = correct
• Ли может существовать такой закон? = incorrect

Here, the question centers on может: can / is it possible. That is why ли comes right after может.

Because the subject is такой закон — such a law — and закон is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

So the verb must agree with it:

• закон может = the law can
• not могут, because that would be plural

Even though the subject comes later in the sentence, it is still singular, so the verb is singular too.

After мочь (to be able / can), Russian normally uses the infinitive of the main action.

So:

• может существовать = can exist
• может работать = can work
• может случиться = can happen

This is very similar to English:

• can exist
• can work
• can happen

So существовать is in the infinitive because it is the action governed by может.

Because закон is the subject of the sentence — the thing that may or may not exist.

The basic idea is:

• закон существует = the law exists

Since закон is the subject, it stays in the nominative:

• такой закон

The verb существовать does not take a direct object here. The law is not being acted upon; it is the thing doing the existing.

Такой means such or this kind of.

It must agree with the noun закон, so it is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

because закон is masculine singular nominative.

So:

• такой закон = such a law
• такая книга = such a book (feminine)
• такое правило = such a rule (neuter)
• такие законы = such laws (plural)

The word order is somewhat flexible, but not all versions sound equally natural.

The standard sentence here is:

• Может ли существовать такой закон?

You may also see:

• Может существовать такой закон?

This is also possible, but without ли it sounds more conversational and relies more on intonation.

If you move things around too much, the sentence can sound unnatural or overly marked. For example:

• Такой закон может ли существовать? — grammatically possible in a very marked context, but not the normal way to say it

So the given word order is a very natural and standard way to ask this question.

Both can mean essentially the same thing, but the style is different.

Может ли существовать такой закон?

• more explicit as a yes/no question
• often sounds more formal, careful, or written
• uses the particle ли

Может существовать такой закон?

• more conversational
• depends on rising intonation in speech
• feels slightly less formal

So the difference is mainly one of style and structure, not basic meaning.

Существовать is imperfective.

That makes sense because the verb means to exist, which is usually understood as a state or ongoing condition rather than a single completed event.

With modal verbs like мочь, Russian often uses the infinitive that best matches the meaning:

• может существовать = can exist / may exist

A perfective partner is not normally used here in the same basic sense. There is просуществовать, but that means something more like to exist for a certain period of time, not simply to exist.

So существовать is the natural verb here.

Yes, Может ли быть такой закон? is possible, but it is not exactly the same in feel.

Может ли существовать такой закон?

This focuses on existence in a broader or more conceptual sense:

• Can such a law exist?
• Is such a law possible at all?

Может ли быть такой закон?

This can sound a little more like:

• Can there be such a law?
• Could such a law be the case / be possible?

In many contexts they are close, but существовать sounds a bit more precise and philosophical or legal, while быть is more general.

The main word stress is:

• мо́жет
• ли
• существова́ть
• тако́й
• зако́н

A rough pronunciation guide:

MO-zhet li soo-shchest-vo-VAT' ta-KOY za-KON?

A learner should especially watch out for:

• существовать — a long word, with stress on -ва́ть
• такой — stress on the second syllable
• закон — stress on the second syllable

In speech, the intonation rises as it is a question, but because ли already marks it as a question, the structure itself helps make that clear.

It sounds neutral to somewhat formal.

The main reason is the use of ли, which is common in:

• written Russian
• formal speech
• careful, structured questions

It does not sound unnatural or overly stiff, but it is definitely more formal than a very casual spoken version.

A more casual spoken alternative might be:

• Может существовать такой закон?

So the given sentence is perfectly natural, especially in writing, discussion, law, philosophy, or analytical speech.