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Matthew.90 Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

Can,Might,May,Could

Can we use "can" instead of may? and Is there "Can" a probability meaning?
  

Top answer

not exaclty. you cannot use them instead of each other. We use "can" to say capability or possibility of sth.

— SunnyShiny

  • not exaclty.
  • you cannot use them instead of each other.
  • We use "can" to say capability or possibility of sth.
  • for example, I can not handle my financial prblems.
  • " or" I may accpet in a Canadian university"
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6 Answers
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not exaclty. you cannot use them instead of each other.

We use "can" to say capability or possibility of sth. for example, I can not handle my financial prblems.

"May" is used when you are asking permission, "May I have another cup of tea?" or" I may accpet in a Canadian university"
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Adequately explaining "can", "might", "may" and "could" is quite a lot of work. For a start, you might find these helpful:

http://www.englishpage.com/modals/can.html

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SunnyShiny "May" is used when you are asking permission, "May I have another cup of tea?"

This is traditionally the case, and is still good English, but this use of "may" can sometimes seem rather formal or even old-fashioned. In everyday modern English, most people would, in most circumstances, say "Can/Could I have another cup of tea (please)?"
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Hi,

Then what about 'May *** bless you'.

Thanks.
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First of all, it's a fixed phrase, which are not likely to be changed even if one of the words it consists of loses currency (I'm not saying that "may" did). Second, the word may has a different meaning (which a lot of linguists would even consider a different word(!)) here and it doesn't express either allowance or possibility. It expresses a wish or hope instead:

May he rest in
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