When does 可 before a verb mean “willing to”, and when does it mean “can”? In a sentence like this,
他遇到了一个好朋友, 可带他去很多酒吧
does the 可 mean the new friend “can” bring him to the bar, or that he is “willing to”?
I’ve always thought of 可 as just “can” or “able to”, but I saw on Pleco that it could be used as an auxiliary to mean “be willing to; be ready to”.
The examples given include 可干 and 可虚心接受意见.
Maybe it always means “willing to” in front of a verb, and you’d use 可以 when you want to say “can”?
可虚心接受意见 literally mean &quot;can/ able to humbly accept suggestions&quot;
If you can accept suggestions, it also implies you are willing to accept suggestions (most people can't accept suggestions = unwilling to accept suggestions)
可带他去很多酒吧 should be translated as 'able to take him to many bars'
For 可 to suggest 'willing', the sentence must state something the subject might be unwilling to do
Example:
這孩子可刻苦練功 (This child can practice hard) meaning 這孩子肯 (willing to) 刻苦練功   (most people can't practice hard = unwilling to practice hard)
it is better to replace 可 (can/ able/ willing to) with the more specific 肯 for &quot;willing&quot;