HUZZAH! Banned from Rentech.com!
ZephyrZodiac:
So we need both words, right? If the word "may" is becoming obsolete, I'd suggest it was due to laziness and bad teaching! There are occasions when the distinction could be important , especially when attempting to translate into a foreign language which still distinguishes between the two.
breyerii:
Very, very true.
And now, as another buffoon said before I was born:
Good night, sweet ladies... good night sweet ladies... good night sweet ladies...
ElviraGoth:
I have to agree with you. Unfortunately, I hear more people using "can I..." than "may I.." as the years go by. It may be that those who didn't want to learn the correct usage 40 years ago have continued to use "can" to the point that their children have grown up with it, passed it along to their children, etc.
Can you imagine using "it can be" instead in that last sentence? Wouldn't make sense, would it?
ZephyrZodiac:
No, it wouldn't! And how about "May you swim?" instead of "Can you swim?" I mean, the first implies that one is asking if something is permitted, the second is simply asking about someone's ability! Two totally different concepts!
I was akways told at school, in the similar confusion between shall and will, to remember these two sentences:
"I shall drown and nobody will save me!"
"I will drown and nobody shall save me!"
ElviraGoth:
I have to admit I have always been confused by those two, myself. And "shall" is not used much here. So..which one is correct?
???
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