used like the functional auxiliaries to form negatives and questions.
46
All of these modals can also be grouped according to the meanings they express.
Many modals have meanings in addition to basic meanings related to these groupings. In Basic Meaning of Modals, modals can be categorized into
three groups according to meaning. a.
Modals of ability, permission, and possibility. This group includes
the modals can, could, may and might.
b. Modals of advice and necessity.
This group includes must, should,
dare, need, have to, had better, had best, have got to, ought to, and be supposed to.
c. Modals for expressing future time.
This group of modals includes shall, will, would, and be going to.
47
3. Modal Auxiliary “Can” and “May”
a. Can
Can is one of modal auxiliaries that use to assist verbs to express ability, possibility, permission, offering, request and order and it is followed
by the bare infinitive. The past tense form of can, namely, could. Can is
used informally to request permission, especially if the speaker is talking to someone shehe knows fairly well.
48
Like other modal auxiliaries can is usual placed before the predicates
of the sentence in positive sentence, for example: He can swim. In negative
sentence, modals need “not” between the modal and the verb, for example: He can not swim. In interrogative sentences, they precede the subject of the
sentence, for example: Can he swim?.
Can used to express: 1
Ability
46
Hall 1993, op cit., p. 195
47
Cowan 2008, loc cit.
48
Azar 1989, loc cit.
Can is used to indicate the possession of ability in general, or being in a position, in particular circumstances, to perform
the activity denoted by the main verb.
49
Can means “be able to
do something”, or “know how to do something”.
50
Can express the ability to do something in the immediate present or in the
future. a
Present ability
e.g.: George can read English quite well now.
b Future ability
e.g.: I can help you next week.
2 Permission
Can is used in statements implying permission as well as ability.
51
It is used to request permission to do something. Can is
possible and can be used for the present or future and can is the
most informal, and is actually better than may in requests for
permission involving the negative.
52
The following details are the use of can to express
permission. a
Asking for permission
e.g.: Can I see your railway time-table?
53
b Giving permission
e.g.: You can go home now.
3 Possibility
49
Graver 1971, op cit., p. 8
50
Cowan 2008, op cit,. p. 297
51
Janet Ross, Writing English: A Composition Text in English as a Foreign Language,
Second Edition,New York: Harper Row Publishers, 1975, p. 238
52
James A. W. Heffernan, John E. Lincoln, Writing A College Handbook, Second
Edition, New York: W. W. Norton Company, 1982, p. 401
53
A. S. Hornby, Guide to Patterns and Usage in English, Second Edition, Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1975, p. 197
Another meaning of can is to show possibility of
something.
e.g.: He can ski on the hills.
54
4 Offering
Can is also often used to offer something to another people.
e.g.: I can lend you a pound till Wednesday, if that will
help.
Can I carry your bag?
5 Request and orders
Can is also used to make someone to do something, or to orders someone to do as they are orders. For example, in
restaurant, when customers make an order, they may ask waiters to bring them meals, drinks, desert, cigarette, etc.
e.g.: Can you come here, please? b.
May
May is one of modal auxiliaries that used to express possibility. The past tense form of
may, namely, Might. In Formal style, it is also used in statements that give authoritative permission.
55
It expresses permission in formal usage or to indicate that something is allowed. Present or future time
is indicated.
According to Jannet Ross and Gladys Doty 1975, may sometimes
indicates conjecture about the future. When used in this sense, the past tense is indicated by
may have, for example: It may rain tomorrow. There is a strong possibility and
It may have rained while we were gone. The speaker is not sure whether it did or not.
56
Like other modal auxiliaries may is usual placed before the predicates
of the sentence in positive sentence, for example: You may go now. In
54
A. J. Thomphson, A. V. Mariret, A Practical English Grammar, Third Edition,
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986, p. 119
55
Hornby 1975, op cit., p. 198
56
Ross and Doty 1975, op cit., p. 239
negative sentence, modals need “not” between the modal and the verb, for example:
You may not go now. In interrogative sentences, they precede the subject of the sentence, for example:
May you go now?. May used to express:
1 Possibility
e.g.: He may tell his wife.
57
2 Permission
e.g.: The children may play here.
58
From above explanation, it is obviously clear that “can” and “may”,
can carry many functions or meanings. Can may be used to express
ability, to express permission, to show possibility, to offers something, and to make a request or orders, and
may can be used to express possibility and permission.
57
Thomphson, and Mariret 1986, op cit., p. 131
58
Robby Lou, English Tenses and How to Use The,. Jakarta: Mobile English Plus,
2006, p. 84
