English has always been my favorite subject back in grade school. I enjoy our drills, our quizzes and writing activities.
One of the “uses” stuck in me comes from my favorite English teacher, Mrs. Monroy…she was the Ms.Minchin in our school. 😀 It’s about the use of ‘May’ and ‘Can.’ I think a lot of kids cannot differentiate the uses of the two. Even in German, I hear kids interchanging them.
We use “can” to indicate capability or possibility, e.g.
“I don’t know if I can run for tomorrow’s race.”
The implication here is on whether you have the physical capacity or maybe the time to join the race.
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“May” is used when you are asking permission, or indicating it, e.g.
“I don’t know if I may run for tomorrow’s race.”
The implication here is on whether you have the permission or if you would be allowed to join the race.
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Yes, I hear even TV personalities with journalistic degree get confused with this too. 🙂
Thanks for joining! 🙂
Wow this is very helpful lalo na sa mga medyo nalilito sa "can" and "may". I used to be confused with those words before hehe.. Anyway, have a nice day.
I remember in school when we asked for potty break, we'd say, Can I go out? She would nod her head and say Yes you MAY!!!!!
me too, i remember learning this in school.
i fully understand the difference when I was reviewing for the NCEE 🙂
followed and included you in my blogroll, hopefully you can do the same 🙂
I too was so confused with it when I was in grade school. thanks to my very patient English teacher. 🙂