may i or can i difference?
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May is the more formal word, and if you are at all concerned about being tut-tutted, a safe choice. Can is now the verb of choice for ability, and both can and may are still used in the "possibility" sense. You may use can if you wish, and you can use may if it makes you feel better.
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4 Answers. "Do you mind..." is a polite way of asking "Can you...." For this reason, it's usually acceptable to respond to the semantic intent of the question by answering "Yes (I can do that)", rather than responding to the grammatical form with "No (I don't mind)".
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Could. "Could" is a modal verb used to express possibility or past ability as well as to make suggestions and requests. "Could" is also commonly used in conditional sentences as the conditional form of "can."
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There is no difference in meaning. There is a difference in use. Relative clauses—the sort of clause you use, “which is blue” / “that is blue”, which tells us something more about the noun referred to by which or that—are of two sorts: restrictive and nonrestrictive.
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Inclusive OR allows both possibilities as well as either of them. So, if either A or B is True, or if both are True, then the statement value is True. Whereas Exclusive OR only allows one possibility. So if either A or B is true, then and only then is the value True.
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Could expresses possibility, while would expresses certainty and intent. A good way to remember the differences between these two words is simply to bring each word back to its root verb. Could is the past tense of can. Would is the past tense of will.
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2 Answers. different is an adjective and can be used in sentences like : We are both different in terms of our mentality. difference is a noun and can be used in sentences like : The only difference between us is our mentality.
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As nouns the difference between ability and possibility is that ability is (obsolete) suitableness while possibility is the quality of being possible.
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4 Answers. "Do you mind..." is a polite way of asking "Can you...." For this reason, it's usually acceptable to respond to the semantic intent of the question by answering "Yes (I can do that)", rather than responding to the grammatical form with "No (I don't mind)". Native speakers sometimes get confused by this, too.
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1 Answer. There is a difference in usage, but this is a stylistic point, not a grammatical one. The construction 'do need' as opposed simply to 'need' is used to create a contrast with what has gone before, but without labouring it.
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If you mind, the appropriate answer is yes (I do mind), and if you don't, the appropriate answer is no (I don't mind). But the CONVEYED content of (1) is a request. So if you grant the request, the appropriate answer is yes (go ahead), and if you don't, the appropriate answer is no (don't do it).
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['be (am, are, is, was, were, being),', 'can,', 'could,', 'do (did, does, doing),', 'have (had, has, having),', 'may,', 'might,', 'must,']
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If taken literally, "Can you" is equivalent to asking the person if they're capable of doing something. "Could you", on the other hand, implies that the action can be completed under some circumstances by the person. The usage of can you is idiomatic, and hence, is more popular used phrase of the two.
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[Tweet “ENGLISH GRAMMAR: MAY and MIGHT are both used to talk about possibility.”] MIGHT is past tense of MAY. Many people still think that MAY (present tense) should be used when we talk about a current situation and MIGHT (past tense) should be used when we talk about an event that happened in the past.
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Yes says that you definitely agree with, or are willing to do what was asked of you. And stating it in a formal way. Sure says that you might not want to do it but will do it anyway. Or agreeing to what is being asked of you in a less formal way.
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But the permission use of can is not in fact incorrect in standard English. The only difference between the two verbs is that one is more polite than the other. In informal contexts it's perfectly acceptable to use can; in formal situations it would be better to use may.
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We use could to talk about an ability somebody had in the past. We use was/were able to to talk about a specific event in the past.