# 你一定可以<的>



## yuechu

大家好！

On TV recently, I heard someone say (in a 电视剧）: "你一定可以的“. What is the function of "的" here? I know that it is often used in the structure "是。。。的", but there is no 是 here. Is it similar to that?
Thanks!


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## Shazhudao945

I believe this kind of expression(adding a 的 at the end of the sentence) originally came from Taiwan, cos til the early 1990s we still didn't have it in mainland China. At that time we only said 你一定能行(without 的）; we said 你可以的 at that time，but not to encourage someone, but to 1. imply that you've gone too far and pissed me off.  2. well done. For 你可以的 here I would take it for a .. idiomatic oral expression with no grammar.
Although nowadays we do say so  你一定可以的  , I am not sure for what 的 here is. We should wait for Tsai.


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## yuechu

Oh, I had no idea. Very interesting! Thanks, Shazhudao945!


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## 2PieRad

Hmmm, if I'm not mistaken, 的 "softens" the sentence here a tad. Without it, it would feel more like a "direct statement of facts".


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## SuperXW

To signify the completion of a confirmation.
是的。
好的。
可以的。
肯定的。


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## yuechu

Thanks, Erebos12345 and SuperXW!


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## SimonTsai

Shazhudao945 said:


> [In] the early 1990s […] we said 你可以的 [to suggest …] that you've gone too far and pissed me off [or as an equivalent of …] well done.


That is really new to me. I have always heard it being said to mean, '_You can do it_', in encouraging someone lacking confidence. Could you please give me two examples showing how it was used then?


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## Shazhudao945

SimonTsai said:


> That is really new to me. I have always heard it being said to mean, '_You can do it_', in encouraging someone lacking confidence. Could you please give me two examples showing how it was used then?


<Moderator note: video link removed, "…毛利小五郎你可以的">
Something like this, but nowadays it is softer than before. In that days, 你可以的 had quite close meaning but sounded quite unfriendly (almost provoking).


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## qiu68690

这个苹果是可以吃的，那个玩具是可以动的，你是可以成功的。  可以...的 表示发言者认为某种动作能够顺利完成 。
“ 你一定可以的 。”省略了动作，表达你什么动作都能完成的意思，是一种鼓励语气。


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## SuperXW

Shazhudao945 said:


> I believe this kind of expression(adding a 的 at the end of the sentence) originally came from Taiwan, cos til the early 1990s we still didn't have it in mainland China. At that time we only said 你一定能行(without 的）; we said 你可以的 at that time，but not to encourage someone, but to 1. imply that you've gone too far and pissed me off. 2. well done. For 你可以的 here I would take it for a .. idiomatic oral expression with no grammar.
> ...
> <Moderator note: video link removed>
> Something like this, but nowadays it is softer than before. In that days, 你可以的 had quite close meaning but sounded quite unfriendly (almost provoking).


I doubt that. Growing up in 90's Beijing, I never heard 你可以的 used in the above two ways.
However, I know 你可以 can be used in that sense. We may say 你可以啊！你小子行啊！不得了啊你！to express that you are beyond my expectation, in either a good way or a bad way.
Relative examples:
你小子可以啊！考那么好！
行啊你！敢顶撞我了！
好！你能干！你给我等着！
Similar structures include 真可以, 真行, 真够呛 etc.
All of these are colloquial but none of these include 的.


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## Shazhudao945

SuperXW said:


> I doubt that. Growing up in 90's Beijing, I never heard 你可以的 used in the above two ways.
> However, I know 你可以 can be used in that sense. We may say 你可以啊！你小子行啊！不得了啊你！to express that you are beyond my expectation, in either a good way or a bad way.
> Relative examples:
> 你小子可以啊！考那么好！
> 行啊你！敢顶撞我了！
> 好！你能干！你给我等着！


Maybe that was the difference between North China and South China oral expressions... but that was almost 30 years ago... hard to find solid evidence where it started and how it was by the oral language at that time.
Anyway nowadays both survived and still exist.


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## SuperXW

Shazhudao945 said:


> Something like this, but nowadays it is softer than before. In that days, 你可以的 had quite close meaning but sounded quite unfriendly (almost provoking).


Listen to the video, 你可以的 is not uttered, but only appears in the title.
Adding 的 is understandable but I would see it as a non-standard variant of 你可以.


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## Shazhudao945

SuperXW said:


> Listen to the video, 你可以的 is not uttered, but only appears in the title.
> Adding 的 is understandable but I would see it as a non-standard variant of 你可以.


That is the reason why I feel confused.
Born and grown up in Southchina, it is clear to me that this 你可以的 didn't come from our dialect, since we didn't have this expression in 苏北方言（江淮方言），上海话 &its relatives(苏州话，无锡话），even 粤语.
The only possiblility is that it came from Northchina. But it existed quite a long time ago already,  and I was a schoolboy at that time, which makes it harder for me to tell exactly what was with it.


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## Skatinginbc

Shazhudao945 said:


> …毛利小五郎你可以的"



「当着女儿的面摸兔女郎的屁股，毛利小五郎*你可以的*」 ==> 毛利小五郎，*你*是*可以*當著女兒的面，摸兔女郎屁股*的*(那種不知羞恥的人).


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## hx1997

Shazhudao945 said:


> "…毛利小五郎你可以的"


我觉得这个比较像“你可真行”（反语）。


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## Shazhudao945

hx1997 said:


> 我觉得这个比较像“你可真行”（反语）。


一语道破天机


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