So this usage is mostly seen in a very formal setting among polite company. In addition, may can be used for several purposes.
May can be used to talk about a possible situation or to express a wish or hope as well. Her controversial speech may result in an uprising. May I have the honour of this dance? Though I did sleep through most English classes much to the chargrin of my English teacher mother. Just think of the following statement:. If you were sleeping through your English class and asking questions like that, we would vote for detention!
I love that you mention how English is a living language, and thus changes over time. Things change, and I believe that many of these changes enrich the language, not destroy it. There is no rule saying that may cannot be used in a plural sense. Thank you so very much! You clarified a little difference of opinion that I had with a colleague of mine. He said it was not appropriate or correct to say and corrected one of my students.
Etiquette and politness are what I work on with my students; however, I appreciate it when they are grammatically correct. Thanks again. Am I just old fashioned? We still recommend the use of may in a formal written context. Sounds like your daughter is trying to teach her son to be courteous. Since he is asking for help with something he cannot do on his own and not for permission, we suggest starting with the word please followed by can. The words could, would , or will are also acceptable.
Is it the Passive that confuses me? Can you please clarify this usage? We still recommend the use of may in a formal context. If a group of people were watching a race and saw a man who runs very fast and it seems like a possibility that he may be the fastest one out of them all, you would use may. The word can is the only possible answer with that distinction given in the question. Therefore, depending on your point of view, both are valid responses. Employees who have held acting promotion for a continuous period of 12 months or more, MAY, when they revert to their previous grade, be allowed to retain the pay of the higher grade on a mark-time basis.
This is done on the understanding that employees are willing to accept further periods of acting promotion. The speaker is making a request, not asking permission. It makes me cringe to hear that when my students ask me to open the restroom. I tell them we only use MAY when it involves ourselves. Is there a rule about which verb to use in the second person? When using the second person, the speaker is making a request, not asking permission.
Therefore, can you, will you , or would you is preferred. I had a client asking me to complete a form. Am I correct or not? Some dictionaries e. Possibly because the days are not consecutive? In earlier days, those who were well-literate I am saying literate, not educate , would frame sentences with the correct use of modal auxiliaries.
Others did not know the denotation of these auxiliaries. Listening to them, wrong usage of these auxiliaries culminated. Can I speak? Whereas, when you pen down on paper, and write Can I speak? The first indicates that an action that is made will yield a result. I say the first is correct. Jane, which one is correct?
Can is preferred for ability, however, may and might are used to indicate possibility. Therefore, both sentences omitting the question marks are grammatically correct. It depends on whether you choose to imply certainty or possibility.
Does this sentence mean the employee must administer medication? The word may in your sentence is used to indicate possibility. Therefore, the sentence implies that it is possible that the employee will be required to administer medication. Both answers are correct, however, they have different meanings. I can go by car means that I am able to go by car. I may go by car means that I might possibly go by car. I think may should be used when requesting something for yourself.
For example, may I go to the restroom. It seems incorrect to use may when requesting that others do something. For example, May you give me some lunch. It seems that can would be more appropriate in this example. When requesting something for yourself, you are asking permission.
Both can and may are commonly used interchangeably in respect to permission, especially in spoken English. When using the second person, the speaker is usually making a request, not asking permission. Therefore, can you , will you , or would you is preferred. Therefore, use can. Please explain the reason for choosing 1 or 2?
Sentence 1 is correct with a period at the end of the sentence instead of a question mark. The sentence requires last whether the subject is singular or plural because the complete verb in this case is the verb phrase may last. The same is true whether you use this or your. Here is her latest example, asking a vendor to provide her an update: May you have an update regarding the outcome?
She is making a request, not asking permission. Therefore, will you or can you is preferred. Can someone please help me on this? You are making a request, not asking permission. Therefore, will one of you or can one of you is preferred.
I am 63 years old. When I was in high school my family and I, moved to a small town. There, I had the most wonderful, little, old lady as an English teacher. She used examples to help us remember which way was proper to use words. Can is asking. May is answering. Can I go to the store. Yes, you may. If he only knew he was telling people they might, and not can, he would fall over in his tracks!
She also told us many other helpful hints and examples that I remember to this day. Oh, for the teachers of olde, that cared so much and knew how to help us remember.
The longer we live, the less of the English language we lose. I never had the chance to go to college, but still remember my little old, sweet English teacher that gave me enough knowledge to have been employed my whole life in jobs in which I used the knowledge she pumped into me as a teenager! Thanks to all the old-time, patient, stick-to-em, teachers that put up with so much and are paid so little.
Just remember, I had a teacher that cared and I will never forget her. Just the same as you, younger ones, you will have kids, like me, that will never forget YOU for whatever you are putting into the kids now. One Grateful Student. It is not usual for speakers of English to ask may I know you? These questions are not ungrammatical, but it is highly unlikely that you will ever hear or read either one. The person asking the question is making a request, not asking permission.
Therefore, could you or will you is preferred. Also, the sentence is a run-on sentence and should be written as two sentences. The word will is used to indicate future tense in the second sentence. Could you please sign my logbook? Merriam-Webster's Words of the Week - Oct. Time Traveler.
Love words? Need even more definitions? Ask the Editors 'Everyday' vs. What Is 'Semantic Bleaching'? How 'literally' can mean "figuratively". Can I go to the dance?
Other examples of tone shifts include: May I go to the bathroom? Can I go to the bathroom? May I see that photograph? Can I see that photograph? May my daughter attend the party? Can my daughter attend the party? Negative Usage Another tone difference between can and may occurs when you use them negatively. When to Use Can There are instances outside of asking for permission when you should use can instead of may.
Can you play the piano? The new copy machine can staple and collate copies.
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