{"id":1651,"date":"2015-12-23T14:04:52","date_gmt":"2015-12-23T08:34:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writing-geeks.com\/?p=1651"},"modified":"2015-12-23T14:07:11","modified_gmt":"2015-12-23T08:37:11","slug":"difference-between-can-and-may","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/difference-between-can-and-may\/","title":{"rendered":"Difference Between Can And May"},"content":{"rendered":"

Difference Between Can And May<\/span><\/h2>\n

Difference Between Can And May<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Difference<\/a><\/p>\n

There is often confusion over the words can<\/i> and may<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Can<\/span><\/h6>\n

The word can<\/i> is used to denote ability.<\/p>\n

    \n
      \n
    • I can swim. \"\"<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n

      (I have the ability to swim.)<\/p>\n

        \n
          \n
        • Can he lift 150 kgs? \"\"<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n

          (Does he have the ability to lift 150 kgs?)<\/p>\n

          May<\/span><\/h6>\n

          The word may<\/i> is used to denote permission.<\/p>\n

            \n
              \n
                \n
              • You may swim in this river. \"\"<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n

                (You are allowed to swim in this river.)<\/p>\n

                 <\/p>\n

                  \n
                    \n
                  • May I have a biscuit? \"\"<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n

                    (Am I permitted to have a biscuit?)<\/p>\n

                     <\/p>\n

                    Use Can for Permission (Informal Setting)<\/span><\/h6>\n

                    These days, however, the word can<\/i> is used for both ability and permission, particularly in an informal setting.<\/p>\n

                      \n
                        \n
                          \n
                        • You can swim in this river. \"\"<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n

                          (You are allowed to swim in this river.)<\/p>\n

                           <\/p>\n

                            \n
                              \n
                            • Can I have a biscuit? \"\"<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n

                              (Am I permitted to have a biscuit?)<\/p>\n

                              Always Use May for Permission in a Formal Setting<\/span><\/h6>\n

                              In a formal setting or in polite company, you should use may<\/i> to denote permission.<\/p>\n

                                \n
                                  \n
                                • May I leave the table? \"\"<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n

                                  (Am I permitted to leave the table?)<\/p>\n

                                  \n
                                  <\/div>\n
                                  NOTE<\/span><\/h5>\n
                                  <\/div>\n
                                  AUXILIARY VERBS
                                  \n<\/b>
                                  \nCan<\/i> is an auxiliary verb meaning to be able to<\/i>. May<\/i> is an auxiliary verb meaning to be permitted to<\/i>.
                                  \n<\/b><\/div>\n
                                  <\/div>\n
                                  “Can I go outside, grandma?”
                                  \n“You can, dear. You’re just not allowed.”<\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

                                   <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                                  Difference Between Can And May Difference Between Can And May There is often confusion over the words can and may. Can The word can is used to denote ability. I can swim. (I have the ability to swim.) Can he lift 150 kgs? (Does he have the ability to lift 150 kgs?) May The word […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1653,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1651","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-grammar"},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/difference-between-can-and-may-min.jpg?fit=800%2C521&ssl=1","author_info":{"display_name":"Writing Geeks","author_link":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/author\/writinggeeks\/"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/difference-between-can-and-may-min.jpg?fit=800%2C521&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6uhmH-qD","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1651"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1655,"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1651\/revisions\/1655"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writinggeeks.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}