Can, May and Will: the Use of Modals in English
Recently, I received a mail from one of my Chinese colleagues (in English of course) stating that I said something will be done when in fact I said nothing of that sort. I corrected her, telling her that I did say something can be done, so if she had said something may be done she'd be correct too. But I cannot accept the will in the statement.
This is also a common problem in Singapore too, where many pupils either did not listen when English was being taught, or else the teacher who taught them did not take the effort to correct their mistakes.
In my 7 years of teaching, I kept getting pupils who would ask, "Mr Chan, can I go to the toilet?"
I know my American friends are going to be laughing away - to you, the toilet is the part you sit on (we Singaporeans will say the "toilet bowl"...yucks). But since the pavement is for cars in the States (it's for pedestrians in Singapore), I will not correct my pupils on that. Context and culture should be allowed its place, otherwise Singaporeans would be pumping gas instead of petrol, and driving trucks instead of lorries.
But back to my subject - whenever such a question popped up, the poor kid would normally get this reply from me, "Sure you can go, you've got legs, but you may not go." The brighter kids would get it immediately, but most of the time the poor kid would stand there wide-eyed, not knowing how to react to such a reply.
That would always be a perfect opportunity for me to teach the class the difference between "can", "may" and "will" (I love to use teachable moments - pupils remember them better when they have a real-life context to use!). The use of the modals (the 3 words are called modals, from the root word with the same meaning as "modify") changes the meaning of the verbs following and must be used with care.
"Can" is used to indicate the ability to do something. I can walk away from my seat without crutches, but someone who is injured cannot - he does not have the ability to do so without his clutches.
"May" is used to indicate permission most of the time. So while I can walk away from my seat without clutches since I am perfectly healthy, I may not do so because my teacher does not give me the permission. So I guess I can only squirm (a common thing happening to this suspected-dyslexic-and-ADHD case back when I was a pupil).
"Will" is used to indicate a high certainty or even a certainty. So I can walk away from my seat because I am perfectly healthy, but I may not because my teacher does not give me the permission. And I most certainly will not because I do not want to get into trouble with my teacher (I might have been the class clown, but I was no discipline case)!
Next time you say something, be careful of the modal you use!
This articles was first published on Ezinearticles.
This is also a common problem in Singapore too, where many pupils either did not listen when English was being taught, or else the teacher who taught them did not take the effort to correct their mistakes.
In my 7 years of teaching, I kept getting pupils who would ask, "Mr Chan, can I go to the toilet?"
I know my American friends are going to be laughing away - to you, the toilet is the part you sit on (we Singaporeans will say the "toilet bowl"...yucks). But since the pavement is for cars in the States (it's for pedestrians in Singapore), I will not correct my pupils on that. Context and culture should be allowed its place, otherwise Singaporeans would be pumping gas instead of petrol, and driving trucks instead of lorries.
But back to my subject - whenever such a question popped up, the poor kid would normally get this reply from me, "Sure you can go, you've got legs, but you may not go." The brighter kids would get it immediately, but most of the time the poor kid would stand there wide-eyed, not knowing how to react to such a reply.
That would always be a perfect opportunity for me to teach the class the difference between "can", "may" and "will" (I love to use teachable moments - pupils remember them better when they have a real-life context to use!). The use of the modals (the 3 words are called modals, from the root word with the same meaning as "modify") changes the meaning of the verbs following and must be used with care.
"Can" is used to indicate the ability to do something. I can walk away from my seat without crutches, but someone who is injured cannot - he does not have the ability to do so without his clutches.
"May" is used to indicate permission most of the time. So while I can walk away from my seat without clutches since I am perfectly healthy, I may not do so because my teacher does not give me the permission. So I guess I can only squirm (a common thing happening to this suspected-dyslexic-and-ADHD case back when I was a pupil).
"Will" is used to indicate a high certainty or even a certainty. So I can walk away from my seat because I am perfectly healthy, but I may not because my teacher does not give me the permission. And I most certainly will not because I do not want to get into trouble with my teacher (I might have been the class clown, but I was no discipline case)!
Next time you say something, be careful of the modal you use!
This articles was first published on Ezinearticles.
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