Abstract: There reads in Part A of Duke Wen of Teng in Mengzi(The Book of Mencius)“然后中国可而食也(and then the Central Plains can be got and nibblend up).”Ma Shi Wen Tong(Ma’s Grammar Book) holds the view that in the quoted part is an auxiliary, which has the same word property as 可 meaning “be able to”, “can”, By extensive investigation into relative examples used in ancient documents, books and records, the present paper comes to the conclusion that the under discussion is not an auxiliary but an ordinary verb meaning “get”.

Key words: Ma’s Grammar Book, The Book of Mencius, canbe got, word property