Re: Can vs. May

[Karen Byers <kbyers -at- INFORMIX -dot- COM>]

My department's style guide lists:
Can is a verb that indicates the ability to do something.

May is a verb that indicates permission to do something.

Might is a verb that indicates the possibility of doing something.

Karen
Oakland, CA

At 11:38 AM 1/26/99 -0800, Susan W. Gallagher wrote:
>At 09:50 AM 1/26/99 -0800, Thomas Quine wrote:
>>... on ... "can" and "may".
>>
>>... "can"
>>suggests ability; ... "may" suggests permission.
>>
>>The second ... risks sounding condescending, even imperious. I
>>think technical documentation should use the word "may" only rarely.
>
>Well, yeah. Kinda. While "may" suggests permission, it also
>suggests possibility, as in "it may rain". Certainly, this
>would not indicate my giving permission for rain. If you've
>seen my picture in "friendly faces", you know I'd never do
>that!  ;-)
>
>In the spirit of possibility rather than permission, I use
>"may" to indicate an arbitrary choice that is not necessarily
>the standard course of events, as in "You may do action A or B,
>but action B provides the additional benefits of...", which,
>in my twisted way of looking at things, says that both actions
>are possible but the later is preferable.
>
>
>
>-Sue Gallagher               http://pw1.netcom.com/~gscale/susanwg/
>sgallagher -at- expersoft -dot- com     http://www.expersoft.com
>
>The _Guide_ is definitive.
>Reality is frequently inaccurate.  --Douglas Adams
>
>From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000==
>

 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=