can / may / possible / able to / not bad / pretty good

Excuse me, may I ask...?

(prefix) can; may; able to; -able / to approve; to permit / to suit / (particle used for emphasis) certainly; very / but; however

how (wonderful etc) / what (a great idea etc) / however (difficult it may be etc) / (in interrogative sentences) how (much etc) / to what extent

to dare / daring / (polite) may I venture

that's fine / may as well / (reduplicated) regardless of whether ... or ...

the not-very-distant past / modern times, excluding recent decades / (in the context of Chinese history) the period from the Opium Wars until the May 4th Movement (mid-19th century to 1919) / capitalist times (pre-1949)

period of time (may be months, or mere seconds) / spare time / skill / labor / effort

to urge (an activity that may be beneficial, harmful or neutral); to encourage; to agitate; to instigate; to incite / to beat; to flap (wings, a fan etc)

(old) third person singular pronoun ("he" or "she") / second person singular pronoun ("you") / (May 4th period) third person singular feminine pronoun ("she") / (Classical Chinese) introductory particle with no specific meaning / (preceding a noun) that

may not

apartment building; block of flats (may be a public housing block or a condominium etc) (CL:套)

(bound form) wish; hope; desire / to be willing / to wish (that sth may happen); may ... / vow; pledge

5-1 (May 1st)

fourth of May, cf 五四運動｜五四运动, national renewal movement that started with 4th May 1919 protest against the Treaty of Versailles

must not / may not / not to be allowed / cannot

Youth Day (May 4th), PRC national holiday for young people aged 14 to 28, who get half a day off

May you have a prosperous New Year! (New Year's greeting)

(honorific) May I ask?

large though its mesh may be, no criminal can slip through the wide net of justice

lit. (may you) have abundance year after year / (an auspicious saying for the Lunar New Year)

may be done once and once only; just this once

a single slip may cause everlasting sorrow (idiom)

May

lit. don't fight, won't make friends (idiom); an exchange of blows may lead to friendship / no discord, no concord

although small, a steelyard weight may tip a hundred pounds (idiom) / apparently insignificant details can have a large impact / for want of a nail the battle was lost

no matter what may happen (idiom)

May Fourth Movement / Chinese national renewal movement that started with 4th May 1919 protest against the Treaty of Versailles

possible / probable / possibly / probably / may / might

Political and Legal Affairs Commission (may refer to the national-level Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, responsible for overseeing law enforcement, judicial affairs and domestic security, or a corresponding body at a lower administrative level)

Xiaoman or Lesser Full Grain, 8th of the 24 solar terms 二十四節氣｜二十四节气 21st May-5th June

lit. even a scrawny camel is bigger than a horse (idiom) / fig. even after suffering a loss, a rich person is still better off than ordinary people / a cultured person may come down in the world, but he is still superior to the common people

to have all one's wishes (idiom) / best wishes / all the best / may all your hopes be fulfilled

abbr. for 五卅運動｜五卅运动, The May Thirtieth Movement (1925)

cannot maintain (sth) / unable to keep / more likely than not / may well

fig. a tree may grow a thousand zhang high, but its leaves return to their roots (proverb) / fig. everything has its ancestral home / in old age, an expatriate returns home

to sculpt or mold a statue (by shaping a pliable material such as clay, plaster or wax, which may later be cast in metal – as distinct from carving in stone or wood) / a statue created through such a process

Live as long as the Zhongnan Mountains! (idiom) / Long may you live!

auxiliary verb introducing future action: may (be able to) / will (cause) / should (enable) / going to

lit. lotus roots may break, but the fiber remains joined (idiom); lovers part, but still long for one another

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (American media company)

(idiom) a clever person may become the victim of his own ingenuity; cleverness may overreach itself; too smart for one's own good

it may be said

lit. (may the) five blessings descend upon this home (namely: longevity, wealth, health, virtue, and a natural death) / (an auspicious saying for the Lunar New Year)

public prosecutor; public procurator (judicial officer whose job may involve both criminal investigation and public prosecution)

(in elections for village committees in the PRC since the 1990s) unrestricted nomination, a type of election where 1. everyone in the community is eligible to nominate somebody 2. voting is done by writing the name of one's nominee on the ballot, and 3. one's nominee can be anyone in the community (Nominees who receive the highest number of votes may be thereby elected or, more often, presented as the candidates in a further round of voting.) / (in other contexts) selection of the best contender in a process open to all comers / (in the entertainment industry) open audition

may I offer a bit of advice

lit. an ant hole may cause the collapse of a great dike (idiom) / fig. huge damage may result from a moment's negligence

Amitabha Buddha / the Buddha of the Western paradise / may the lord Buddha preserve us! / merciful Buddha!

see 龍門縣｜龙门县 / see 龍門石窟｜龙门石窟 / see 龍門山｜龙门山 / Dragon Gate, mythical gate at the crest of a waterfall over which a carp may leap to become a dragon; (fig.) gateway to success or greatness

May 7 cadre school (farm where urban cadres had to undertake manual labor and study ideology during the Cultural Revolution) (abbr. to 五七幹校｜五七干校)

may your happiness be as immense as the East Sea (idiom)

May Day / International Labor Day (May 1)

a great hero may appear timid, the wise may appear stupid (idiom); the general public may not recognize great talent

if I may be so bold

sentence-final particle that conveys informality, warmth, friendliness or intimacy / may also indicate that one is stating a fact that the other person is not aware of

Han dynasty name for countries in far West / may refer to Silk Road states or Alexandria or the Roman empire

it may be assumed that

a wrong repeated becomes right (idiom); a lie or an error passed on for a long time may be taken for the truth

plait / braid / pigtail / a mistake or shortcoming that may be exploited by an opponent / handle / CL: 根, 條｜条

lit. for some things a foot may be too short, and for the other an inch will suffice (proverb) / fig. everyone has their strong and weak points / everything has its advantages and disadvantages

Dear Sirs / To Whom It May Concern

Illness enters by the mouth (idiom). Mind what you eat! / fig. A loose tongue may cause a lot of trouble.

be that as it may

International Labor Day (May Day)

Illness enters by the mouth, trouble comes out by the mouth (idiom). A loose tongue may cause a lot of trouble.

Lixia or Start of Summer, 7th of the 24 solar terms 二十四節氣｜二十四节气 5th-20th May

5th earthly branch: 7-9 a.m., 3rd solar month (5th April-4th May), year of the Dragon / ancient Chinese compass point: 120°

(idiom) great intelligence may appear to be stupidity

fortune as unpredictable as the weather, every day may bring fortune or calamity (idiom); sth unexpected may happen at any moment

(old) to stand up (after kowtowing) / You may rise.

What (noble errand) brings you here? / May I help you? / What can I do for you?

May you have peace year after year (New Year's greeting)

the sparrow may be small but all its vital organs are there (idiom) / small but complete in every detail

Anna May Wong (1905-1961), Chinese American Hollywood actress

to spend effort / to take trouble / May I trouble you to...? (as part of polite request) / Please would you mind...?

voice (as sth that may be described as husky 沙啞｜沙哑 or deep 低沉 etc) / (physics) sound ray

to take a lot of trouble (over sb or sth) / may I trouble you (to do sth)

(neologism c. 2009) wife of a gay man (the man may marry to conform with social expectations, and the woman often enters the marriage not knowing he is gay)

anti-imperialist movement of 30th May 1925, involving general strike esp. in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong etc

Sichuan great earthquake, the magnitude 8 earthquake of May 2008 at Wenchuan 汶川, Sichuan, that killed more than 80,000 people / same as 四川大地震

school for cadres / May 7 Cadre School 五七幹校｜五七干校

"Mr Democracy", phrase used during the May 4th Movement 五四運動｜五四运动 / abbr. for 德謨克拉西｜德谟克拉西 / see also 賽先生｜赛先生

Book of Music, said to be one of the Six Classics lost after Qin's burning of the books in 212 BC, but may simply refer to Book of Songs 詩經｜诗经

bamboos placed across wooden frames on which grain may be stored in damp climates

lit. the meat falls apart as it stews, but it all stays in the pot (idiom) / fig. some of us may lose or gain, but in any case the benefits don't go to outsiders

one may know a person for a long time without understanding his true nature (idiom)

May Fourth Movement / Chinese national renewal movement that started with 4th May 1919 protest against the Treaty of Versailles

May / fifth month (of the lunar year)

return what you borrowed on time, you may borrow again next time (idiom)

Although the peony is beautiful, it depends entirely on help from the green leaves (idiom). However brilliant you may be, you can't do anything without support from others.

in Daoism, astral wind on which immortals may ride / strong wind

what is your surname? / (May I ask) your surname?

lit. an old steed in the stable still aspires to gallop 1000 miles (idiom); fig. old people may still cherish high aspirations

a reading of a written Chinese word derived from a synonym (typically, a vernacular synonym) (e.g. in Mandarin, 投子 may be pronounced as its synonym 色子, and in Wu dialects, 二 is pronounced as its synonym 兩｜两 "liahn") / to pronounce a word using such a reading / (Japanese linguistics) kun-reading, a pronunciation of a kanji derived from a native Japanese word that matches its meaning rather than from the pronunciation of the character in a Sinitic language at the time it was imported from China (Note: A kun-reading of a character is distinguished from its on-reading(s) 音讀｜音读. For example, 山 has a kun-reading "yama" and an on-reading "san".)

a great hero may appear timid (idiom); the really brave person remains level-headed

to die without progeny / (offensive) may you die childless / may you be the last of your family line

lit. idly poke a stick in the mud and it grows into a tree to shade you / (fig.) unintentional actions may bring unexpected success / also written 無心插柳柳成蔭｜无心插柳柳成荫

don't fight, won't make friends (idiom); an exchange of blows may lead to friendship

joy depresses one's qi vital breath / an excess of joy may lead to sluggishness of vital energy (TCM)