Asking for permission
May I fix the lamp?
Left column: the order of the concepts, as chips — the slots you fill (who, action, thing, when) and the fixed words the language adds (a modal, a negator, a question marker). Click a slot, here or in the bar above, to choose what goes in it. Right column: the sentence those concepts make, the other orders the language allows, and the other ways to say it — each with what it changes. The rows are the languages switched on at the top of the page.
Try:
| Language | The order of the concepts | The sentence, other orders, other ways to say it |
|---|---|---|
| EnglishEnglish | May modal Permission is asked by inversion, like any modal question. 'May' is the formal one and the only one that means nothing but permission. | May I fix the lamp tomorrow? Other ways to say it Can I fix the lamp tomorrow? neutral what everyone actually says. Grammar teachers once objected that it asks about ability; nobody hears it that way. Could I fix the lamp tomorrow? polite softer than can, less stiff than may — the safe choice with a stranger. |
| FrançaisFrench | Est-ce que questionpeux modal Permission is asked with pouvoir, as English asks with can. Puis-je is the formal 'may I'. | demain Après-demain = the day after tomorrow. Est-ce que je peux réparer la lampe demain ? or: Puis-je réparer la lampe demain ? — formal: puis-je is the only place the old form puis survives or: Je peux réparer la lampe demain ? — in speech: the statement with a rise (for 'we', spoken French switches to on: on peut… ?) |
| EspañolSpanish | puedo modal Permission is asked with poder, as English asks with can: ¿Puedo pasar? Spanish has no separate 'may'. | mañana Also 'morning' (la mañana): mañana por la mañana = tomorrow morning. Pasado mañana = the day after tomorrow. ¿Puedo arreglar la lámpara mañana? Other ways to say it ¿Me permite arreglar la lámpara mañana? polite “do you allow me to” ¿me permite…? — formal and deferential: the listener's permission is named, not just your ability. |
Hover a word to see which concept it fills. The verb is always in its dictionary form: every pattern here is built on a modal, which carries the person and the tense, so any verb stays grammatical in every language. Where the modal is an ending (Korean, Japanese, Hindi's 'can'), the stem is computed. What this cannot show is agreement beyond the modal — adjectives, plural objects — which the grammar chapters cover.
For the same idea said at three levels of politeness, see Compare.