Re: can-may

On Mon, 27 Dec 2004 21:17:46 +1100, Tristan McLeay
<conlang@...> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       Constructed Languages List <CONLANG@...>
> Poster:       Tristan McLeay <conlang@...>
> Subject:      Re: can-may
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On 27 Dec 2004, at 4.12 pm, # 1 wrote:
>
> > when translated in frensh, "can" and "may" are both translated in
> > "pouvoir"
> >
> > is there a way to clearly divide when to use each?
>
> Bah. Ignore everyone else. You'll sound much more native if you use
> 'can' to describe ability ('I can write') and permission ('You can
> go'), and 'may' for possibility, when 'might' and 'could' are also
> possible ('It might/may rain'). (I rarely say 'may' unless I'm doing it
> for effect or to be pedantic.) (Not all 'might' can become 'may',
> though.)
Perdón?

Speak for yourself. Maybe in Aussie English everyone uses "can" for
permission and omit "may", but here in California, I only ever hear
can used in a very informal sense, usually by children, or those who
should know better (by that I mean in a formal situation).

We gave the typical rule, which if he used it, wouldn't get corrected.
Yes, "can" is also used to ask permission, but a lot of people who
aren't even prescriptivists will say it sounds less than classy (so to
speak). Do you use "Can" when in a formal environment?

Granted, no one really says anything, but where I'm from it's not a
pedantic or prescriptivist rule, it's simply the way polite people
speak. Why tell him to ignore it when it's just as valid a way of
using may?

By the way, "may" is still very much alive among people here to
describe things that will possibly happen. You may hear the following:

"It may rain tomorrow"
"it might rain tomorrow"