Can i english grammar

But may has multiple meanings. In addition to expressing permission, may also expresses possibility. As an Internet user, you should assume both meanings of may are part of the policy. A third modal for making polite requests is could. However, when asking for permission, could does not have a past tense meaning. Could has the same meaning as may when making requests. Could is used with any subject to ask for permission. Be careful with may. When making a request using may , only I can be the subject.

A traditional children's game is called "Mother May I? The other children start on the opposite side in a line. The goal of the game is to get to the place where the Mother or Father stands. This game helps children to remember two things - to ask permission and to be polite.

Newest Newest Oldest See comments 51 This forum has been closed. Load more comments. For more examples, including how to make questions, see our grammar notes about Can - Cannot.

You might also want to see our Can - Can't - Cannot Game. Could is similar to Can and often replaces Can in the past tense though not always. Just like can't , you can use couldn't when you are sure that something isn't true or real.

This is used to say that someone was able to do something, but they did not try to do it. Sometimes this is a form of criticism. Note: Would be able to can replace could in the following examples.

See our more simple notes about Can and Cannot. See our notes about other Modal Verbs. In this lesson we look at can , could and be able to , followed by a quiz to check your understanding. Can is an auxiliary verb, a modal auxiliary verb. We use can to:. We use can to talk about what is possible, what we are able or free to do:. Normally, we use can for the present. But it is possible to use can when we make present decisions about future ability.

We often use can in a question to ask somebody to do something. This is not a real question - we do not really want to know if the person is able to do something, we want them to do it!

The use of can in this way is informal mainly between friends and family :. Note that we also use could, may, might for permission. The use of can for permission is informal. Could is an auxiliary verb, a modal auxiliary verb. We use could to:.