What is the difference between May I and Can I Permission in English

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hi everybody my name is Alisha in this

lesson I’m going to talk about asking

permission using may I and can i let’s

get started first many people ask what

is the difference between may I and can

i the simple answer is when asking for

permission you want to do something you

ask to do that thing when asking for

permission in modern American English

there isn’t a difference

most people use them the same way so

when people ask this question should I

use may I should I use can I if you use

one or the other you will be understood

there won’t be a communication problem

we use them the same way most people do

however however originally may was used

to ask permission we used may to ask

permission originally many many years

ago that was the preferred word the

specific word to ask for permission for

something can was used to talk about our

abilities things were able to do and of

course we still use can to do this today

so sometimes you may meet people who are

very very like strict about this rule

they still want to use may for

permission if you use can so sometimes

for example in school if a student says

can I go to the bathroom a teacher who

is very strict about this rule might say

do you mean may I go to the bathroom so

sometimes people are very strict about

this but I feel that this is decreasing

a little bit you might hear some

teachers some people who are strict

about this rule kind of make jokes like

that but in general as I said most

people do use them in the same way we

use them interchangeably so we use both

to ask permission there for sentences

like these both of these are acceptable

can I use your computer in other words

is it okay if I use your computer and

may I use your computer

we would use both of these to ask for

permission for from somebody can I use

your computer in this case doesn’t mean

like do I have the ability to use your

computer this is asking for permission

for something so technically if you want

to be historical about it yes this one

is the most correct may I use your

computer that’s true however in American

English may I tends to sound more formal

these days so if you use may with your

friends and your family you might sound

too polite you might like create

distance between your friends and your

family if you use may for everything

because may sounds polite may sounds a

bit more formal this might be different

in British English but in American

English it tends to sound a little more

polite we can also change this from can

I or may I - for example may we like may

we borrow your car so you’re asking

permission for more than one person

yourself and someone else

may we borrow your car or can he come to

the event so in this case you’re asking

permission for someone else to do

something may we can he but so this is

kind of a basic overview of the

difference between them but there’s one

other thing I want to like point out or

mention that is word order this is

something I see a lot of mistakes with

the word order problem is a confusion

between where to put can or may in the

sentence so let’s look at two pairs of

examples here the first pair the

difference here let’s read them first he

can come to the party I have a period

here or a question here because

intonation matters so first he can come

to the party as a statement or he can

come to the party as a question the

other one in this pair is can he come to

the party so first thing to notice in

the first sentence he is the beginning

of the sentence he can come to the party

in the second sentence can begins the

sentence can he come to the party so

what is the difference here

this sentence as a statement he can come

to the party it’s not a question he can

come to the party is it like a simple

confirmation we are confirming he can

come to the party it’s a statement

there’s not a request for permission

there however if we use this upward

question intonation he can come to the

party you’re confirming that so for

example you heard some information that

you’re surprised oh he can come to the

party for example you thought maybe that

person couldn’t come so this is either a

simple confirmation statement he can

come to the party or a confirmation

question like did I hear that correctly

he can come to the party so we’re

confirming something in this sentence

with this grammar in this sentence

however can he come to the party this is

a question that is asking permission can

he come to the party so please note when

you ask permission your can or your may

as we’ll see you later this should be at

the beginning of your sentence let’s

move on though to this next pair I’ve

used may here because may presents kind

of a different situation so this one as

I said confirmation of attendance

however may has a different meaning when

we use may in a different word order we

create a different meaning first let’s

read the sentences he may come to the

party second may he come to the party so

you can hear my intonation is different

as well

he may come to the party this is a

statement not a question he may come to

the party this may be a question you

would ask but it’s not so common may he

come to the party is a clear question

what’s the difference here here we’ve

used may so in this use of may with this

grammar we’ve made a statement actually

this is a simple statement like here

it’s a statement but the meaning here is

that this man he he might attend so this

use of may is not requesting permission

this is saying something is uncertain so

the man might attend but it’s on

certain he may come to the party we

don’t know yet he’s deciding in this

sentence however may he come to the

party this is a polite way to ask

permission for someone else to attend

may he come to the party probably I

would use can he come to the party

because it sounds less formal but this

is a polite way to ask permission for

someone else to attend a party so please

keep in mind when you want to make a

request for permission you’re asking for

permission you need to include can or

may at the beginning of the request if

you put it here after your subject he

can come or he may come you might create

some confusion so please please please

make sure your request word your can or

your may is at the beginning of your

sentence that’s a key point so this is a

quick overview a quick introduction to

some differences between May and can and

may I and can I for asking for

permission I hope that that was helpful

for you if you have any questions or

comments or anything else that you think

might be helpful with regard to this

lesson please let us know in the comment

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see you again soon bye

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