May / Can
Requesting permission and suggesting
Permission
| MORE FORMAL | COMMON |
|---|---|
Giving permission, making requests and offering suggestions require the speaker to be aware of levels of formality. Use may to ask permission. |
Can is commonly used in speech to ask permission. It is also more commonly used in questions and negative sentences. See note below regarding its usage both formally and informally. |
May I smoke here? You may use your cellphone in the restaurant patio. You may not go in there now. He's busy. formal |
Can I smoke here? You can use your cellphone in the restaurant patio. You cannot go in there now. He's busy. |
Request
| MORE FORMAL | LESS FORMAL |
|---|---|
Would or could to make a request. |
Will or can is used informally in speech to make a request. |
Would you please smoke outside? |
Will you smoke outside please? I'd like you to smoke outside please. (would+like – Is used by a person of authority) |
Suggestion / Invitation
| MORE FORMAL | LESS FORMAL |
|---|---|
Use shall or would you like to suggest or invite someone to do something. |
Use let's, why don't we or how about to suggest or invite someone to do something in a less formal situation. |
Shall we go outside? |
Let's go outside? |
Grammar Notes
Resources
Using can for permission
| FOWLER / AZAR | MERRIAM-WEBSTER / SWAN |
|---|---|
can. (3) permission: In informal circumstances, since the second half of the 19c., can has often been used in contexts of permission where may had earlier been obligatory: Can I speak with the Count? – Tennyson… But in any context where politeness or formality are overriding considerations, may is the better word. May I come and stay with you? —Fowler's Modern English Usage (10-10) |
can, may 1. The use of can in a direct question to request permission is basically an oral use. (Several examples are given for speech.) Conclusion: The uses of can which request permission are seldom found in edited prose. In general, this use of can belongs in speech, reported or fictional. In negative statements, cannot and can't are much more frequently used than may not and mayn't; use in negative contexts is seldom notice or criticized. —Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage (218) |
9-2 POLITE REQUESTS WITH "I" AS THE SUBJECT May and could I are used to request permission. They are equally polite. Can I is used informally to request permission, especially if the speaker is talking to someone s/he knows fairly well. Can I is usually considered a little less polite than may I or could I. —Azar (152)
|
345. 1. permission: can / could more common Can and could are more common than may and might, which are used in a formal style. Compare: Can I look at your paper. Excuse me, may I look at your newspaper for a moment? There is an old belief that may/might are more 'correct' than can/could in this case, but this does not reflect normal usage.—Swan (345.1) |
Resources
Azar, Betty Schrampfer, and Stacy A. Hagen. Understanding and Using English Grammar. White Plains, NY: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print.
Biber, Douglas, and Stig Johansson, et al. Longman Grammar Of Spoken And Written English (LGSWE). Harlow: Pearson Education, 1999. Print. (491-2)
Fowler's Modern English Usage. Ed. R. W. Burchfield. Rev. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Print.
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1994.Print.
Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage. 4th ed. 2009: Oxford University Press. Print.
Practice
Restating a Request
What is the level of formality?
Practice 2
Requests, Suggestions and Advice
- Decide on the best modal phrase to complete the sentence.
- An asterisk (*) indicates an incorrect answer.