aime0339

[potent gull]

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[paper stag]

en anglais??

[tame osprey]

"May" est le plus formal

[paper stag]

oui^

[elder stone]

Bien-sûr.

[elder stone]

Merci.

[paper stag]

mais aussi, may peut dire "pourrais" i could / i may

[hardy maple]

may c’est pourrais -je en anglais genre

[tame osprey]

Quelqu'un pourrait dire que "may" est le plus corriger, mais ce n'est pas vrai.

[hardy maple]

Enfin ça joue dans ce sens

[paper stag]

I may want to get a new car, but I don't want a electric car - Je pourrais vouloir une nouvelle voiture mais je ne veux pas une voiture electrique

[elder stone]

Et might maintenant ? C'est un peu bizarre haha

[hardy maple]

Je pourrais mais ce n’est pas une demande tu vois

[paper stag]

might - peut-etre/pourrais

[tame osprey]

"Si je pourrais" = if I might

[paper stag]

if I may

attends

[hardy maple]

I might have some time je pourrais avoir quelque temps genre

[paper stag]

non je suis stupide

[hardy maple]

hein

[tame osprey]

Les anglais ne savent pas aussi mdr

[paper stag]

if i might je crois qu'il ne marche pas

[hardy maple]

J’ai questionné mon niveau en anglais quand elle a dit ça

[wild valve]

in the month of can, I drank a may of coke

[hardy maple]

genre vraiment

[tame osprey]

oui

[paper stag]

tais toi mdr

[tame osprey]

🥖

[paper stag]

^ @elder stone

[hardy maple]

Boycotte l’anglais frero

[paper stag]

if i might N'EXISTE PAS.

[elder stone]

Merci beaucoup.

[rotund summit]

"May" se dit en Angleterre, pas souvent aux États-Unis

[tame osprey]

Oui

[paper stag]

mais non

[tame osprey]

C'est une relique de fascisme

[elder stone]

Merci à tous pour l'aide. Si je pouvais pratiquer l'anglais avec vous en privé ça serait génial

[paper stag]

May I take your order - chez mcdo

aux etats ynus

mec t'es rigole?

[rotund summit]

je dirais "pas souvent"

au resto j'imagine que les serveurs disent plutot "can i take your order"

[paper stag]

hmm

ptn l'anglaus est ouf mec

[rotund summit]

https://www.reddit.com/r/grammar/comments/m74qux/in_north_american_english_is_can_more_common_than/

[tame osprey]

ca depend

[hardy maple]

J’essaie toujours de comprendre la question

[rotund summit]

je sais pas pourquoi vous êtes pas d'accord car c'est un phénomène qu'on voit depuis un moment

[tame osprey]

Pour un restaurant formel, "May I take your order," mais au Burger King par exemple ils diraient "Go away, we are busy smoking crack"

[paper stag]

alors enfin
can -> pouvoir
may -> formal conditional can (pourrais)
might -> hypothèse peu unrealizable

[rotund summit]

c'est inexacte pcq could c'est bien pourrais

[paper stag]

could/may i take your order quandmeme

[hardy maple]

Fact

[tame osprey]

oui

[paper stag]

à mon avis could/may c'est comme la meme chose mais on utilise 'may' quand on propose les questions

[tame osprey]

Oui

"May I..." et le plus formel

[rotund summit]

to be clear, what dialect of english do you identify with?

[paper stag]

could i go to the washroom, may i go to the washroom

[paper stag]

je suis hongkongais, j'allais à une école internationale. je suis pas sur aussi

[paper stag]

plus que "Could I"

[rotund summit]

again may is going out of fashion in the US, in many normal contexts where the UK would use may can is considered sufficient. and this has continued over the past 15 years

i got my training in English teaching from Cambridge which was a lot more dominant in 1990s-2000s, but now American English is dominating and even influencing the Brits

I'll ask my manager "can I take Monday off", not may

[tame osprey]

Mais ce n'est pas le plus approprié toujours

[tame osprey]

I only ever say "may" if I am speaking to an old person who I like, otherwise I never use it and neither do most people I know

[paper stag]

okay

but

"I may be dumb"

alors

pas à poser les questions alors

ça c'est utile aussi

[rotund summit]

that's the equivalent of "maybe", not the same as "may i take your order"

[tame osprey]

Pour les situations hypothètiques

[paper stag]

voilà

[tame osprey]

Or if it's used with "but"

[rotund summit]

j'en pars, amusez-vous

[tame osprey]

"I may be this, but this is this"

[paper stag]

i will take tjis, if i may

mais c'est tres anglais

[tame osprey]

"I may be dumb, but I'm not that dumb"

[tame osprey]

Je suis tres stupide

[paper stag]

à mon avis
may -> you ask permission, answer and you don't expect them to respond
could -> you want the answer to be "yes"
can -> you expect "yes"

oh well 🤷‍♀️

l'anglais est stupide

[tame osprey]

Les langues sont stupides

[paper stag]

ouais

[fluid widget]

Yes, it does. It should also be noted that English can use modals as a subjunctive which is why it often appears in conditionals: ‘If he could speak, he would.’

Both instances are modals but the first is acting as a subjunctive and the second is as a conditional. ‘If I might speak, I would say that he is right.’ is a perfectly grammatical sentence.

That’s why a lot of instances of ‘may/might’ in English is translated by a subjunctive construction in English:
« Il se peut que je sois stupide. »
It may be that I am stupid / I may be stupid

« Il se pourrait bien que je sois stupide »
It might well be that I am stupid / I might be stupid