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Subject:Re: Can vs. May From:Scott Miller <smiller -at- PORTAL -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 26 Jan 1999 13:56:39 -0800
I blame Mr. Baldwin, my sixth grade teacher for this. He stressed the
difference between may, might, and can so strongly that I'm always muttering
"this is wrong... this is wrong... this is wrong..." whenever I read those
words used the wrong way, that is, wrong according to Mr. Baldwin. I do a
lot of muttering, which means that popular usage is pretty much all over the
place.
I rationalize my obsession this way: There are some people who think "may"
is for permission only, and that "might" and "can" aren't for permission.
However, nobody thinks of "might" and "can" as being for permission only, so
by using "may" for permission, nobody mutters "this is wrong" when they read
it as they might do if I use "can" or "might" for permission. That was a
truly horrible sentence, but if you understood it, the reverse is also true.
- Scott M
smiller -at- portal -dot- com
> >...the popular impression of "may" meaning permission is too
> >strong.
>
