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Viceidol Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

Can I use "may" to answer questions start with "Could"?

0A: 01b01font00Could02font02b00 I call you by your first name?02br
02br
00B: Yes, you 01i00_____02i00.02br
02br
00I'm wondering if I can use 01b00"could"02b00 or 01b00"can"02b00 or 01b00"may"02b00 to flll in the blank. Could you please tell me? Thank you very much!0-
  

Top answer

0Hi,02br 02br 00Yes, you can use all these. But they tend, especially 'may', to sound a bit awkward. 02br 02br 00Best wishes, Clive0-

— Clive

  • 0Hi,02br 02br 00Yes, you can use all these.
  • But they tend, especially 'may', to sound a bit awkward.
  • 02br 02br 00Best wishes, Clive0-
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3 Answers
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0Hi,02br
02br
00Yes, you can use all these. But they tend, especially 'may', to sound a bit awkward. I think many native speakers would instinctively avoid this awkwardness by saying something like 'Yes, please do' or 'Yes, that's fine' or 'Of course'.02br
02br
00Best wishes, Clive0-
0
0
0Thank you very much! I understand now.0-
0
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0 As I mentioned in another post about this, the person asking permission can choose to use 01i00could02i00 instead of 01i00can02i00 to be polite in his request. The person who answers is not requesting anything, so he does not typically make that substitution.02br
01i00Can I? Could I? May I?02i02br
01i
0

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