-2

You may have heard the argument "it's not can I go to the bathroom, it's may I."

If this is true, then any question such as "can you get me a glass of water?" could have the same argument applied to it. It's understood what is meant, but what is the grammatically correct way to phrase the question?

Improve this question
5
  • Your second paragraph does not in any way follow from the first. In the first (and traditionally objectionable) case, can is being used to ask for permission; in the latter, it is being used (semi-rhetorically) to ask for ability, which is precisely what has always been the unobjectionable use of the verb. “Can you get me some water?” is not asking for permission, it's asking “Is it possible [and not too much of a bother, understood] for you to get me some water?”. If you ‘fixed’ it to “May you get me some water?”, you'd end up with sheer nonsense.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Jan 30, 2014 at 0:12
  • 1
    @ Aaron: Please make some effort to search for an existing answer here before asking. There must be dozens of questions we could close this as a dup of.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jan 30, 2014 at 1:15
  • @FumbleFingers fair enough, but why is the poor chap getting downvotes? His question may already have been answered elsewhere, but it's not in itself a poor question.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Jan 30, 2014 at 8:52
  • @Mari-LouA I downvoted it for its lack of both clarity and apparent research effort.
    – user867
    Commented Jan 31, 2014 at 2:41
  • Aren't “Can/Could/Will you help me with this?” and “Can/Could/May I go to the bathroom, please?” different things? A request for the first set of questions, asking someone if they agree to do something for you, and asking (for) permission, asking someone if they agree to let you do something for the second set of questions!
    – user58319
    Commented Jan 31, 2014 at 12:36

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

It is not so much about grammar as politeness. It sounds a bit more polite to use 'may', rather than 'can', but as long as you say 'please' it doesn't much matter.

Improve this answer
2

In both the sentences you mention, both "can" and "may" are grammatically correct. This is because grammar does not concern itself with the meanings of words or sentences. What I suspect you're having trouble with is the etiquette and semantic meanings of those particular formulations, which are better explained here.

Improve this answer
1
  • +1 That is a better link/answer than the one I suggested.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Jan 30, 2014 at 8:49

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .