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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much for watching this lesson and we’ll
see you again soon bye
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