Is there a difference between Shall I come in and May I come in?

Asked by Last Modified  

62 Answers

Follow 3
Answer

Please enter your answer

Padmavathi

Shall I - Asking what to do May I - Asking for permission or future possibility
Comments
Dislike Bookmark

Trainer

One big difference is that may is more formal second difference is shall has probability Wether the doer is asking to go in or not... where as may has courtesy to ask the person to whom your are addressing.
Comments
Dislike Bookmark

English Language Tutor, GRE Verbal and Writing Tutor

Yes. The former is less polite than the latter. "Shall" indicates a strong assertion while "may" asks for permission and indicates possibility.
Comments
Dislike Bookmark

.Net and WPF coaching with interview cracks and mock interviews

There is a very subtle difference. You will ask "May I come in?" when you want to go in and are asking for permission and say "Shall I come in?" when you don't really want to go but will go in if someone says "Yes please come in." The latter is used like, if your dad is reading his paper on the couch...
read more
There is a very subtle difference. You will ask "May I come in?" when you want to go in and are asking for permission and say "Shall I come in?" when you don't really want to go but will go in if someone says "Yes please come in." The latter is used like, if your dad is reading his paper on the couch and he hears a big crash in the kitchen and is concerned your mom must have fallen but its a big inconvenience to actually get up and go and see, so he will shout from the couch, "What was that? Are you ok dear? Shall I come and help you?." If your mom says yes then he goes in else he doesn't bother. read less
Comments
Dislike Bookmark

teacher with passion

Yes of course...shall and may are two modal auxiliary verbs.shall is mainly used expressive of offers, , suggestions and requests. May is used to ask for permission.
Comments
Dislike Bookmark

Yes Ganeshan. There is a difference between these two. When you ask someone ''Shall I come in?'', it sounds like you are ordering someone to let you in. However, when you say ''May I come in?'', it is more polite and sounds like you are requesting a person to allow you to come in. That's the only difference...
read more
Yes Ganeshan. There is a difference between these two. When you ask someone ''Shall I come in?'', it sounds like you are ordering someone to let you in. However, when you say ''May I come in?'', it is more polite and sounds like you are requesting a person to allow you to come in. That's the only difference between these two. When you ask someone's permission to allow you to do something, you should be polite in your language because you want his/her permission.So, you are requesting that person politely by asking him ''May I come in?''. ''Shall'' is a bit harsh, so it doesn't go well with asking permission to do something. Now, I hope I have cleared your doubt Ganeshan. read less
Comments
Dislike Bookmark

Tutor

yes may i come in is a polite way of getting permition.where as shaii i come in shows that u r just want to enter with out any care
Comments
Dislike Bookmark

Certified IELTS Tutor with 15 yrs of teaching experience.

Shall and may are both modal auxiliary verbs. However ; Shall is used when making suggestions, offers or requests. Whereas ; may is used mainly when asking or granting permission
Comments
Dislike Bookmark

Financial Accounting Expert

Shall I come in, conveys a simple question asking whether he will come in at a future point of time. Think in terms of an actor seeking directions in a play, that whether he will enter or not. The word 'may' in the question conveys the act of seeking permission at that instance only.
Comments
Dislike Bookmark

Improver

Shall i come in means if there is your requirement or not in the room. May i come in means you yourself want to go in and just want to get in
Comments
Dislike Bookmark

View 60 more Answers

Related Questions

Why are my English speaking skills so bad?
There's no term called 'bad speaking skills'. It's the negativity of your mind that tells you that you have bad speaking skills. If you're a beginner and if you aspire to speak English fluently then here's...
Soumya
0 0
7
spoken english
Hi abhijith, feel free to contact me for any guidance related to spoken english. Good luck
Abhijith
Flammable or Inflammable-both mean same, why safety norms are not taken into consideration to ban using inflammable? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-b-bradshaw/flammable-or-inflammable_b_3212693.html?ir=India
Flammable and inflammable mean exactly the same thing... burns easily. Why are there two different words? According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, back in the 1920s the National Fire...
Singaravelu Subramaniam
How can I believe whether institutions good or not?
Mr Nani, An institution is only a facilitator. It creates a learning ambience where an aspirant can it as platform for his communication practice that can not do at his home/office/college. So, Mr, Nani,...
Nani
What is the Oxford comma, and how is it used?
The Oxford comma (also known as the serial comma or Harvard comma) is the use of a comma before the conjunction in a list of three or more items (e.g., the comma before “and” in “paints,...
Raj
0 0
5

Now ask question in any of the 1000+ Categories, and get Answers from Tutors and Trainers on UrbanPro.com

Ask a Question

Related Lessons

vocabulary building
British and American English U.K - Trousers U.S – Pants U.K – Holiday U.S. – Vacation U.K – Garden U.S.- Yard U.K – Flat U.S. - Apartment Using appropriate vocabulary Very...

Krupa

0 0
0
Spoken English Basics - Verb
The adjectives a, or an, and the, are called articles. Articles introduce noun phrases as definite or indefinite. There are two types of articles. 1. Indefinite 2. Definite Indefinite Article A or...

Sridevi D.

1 0
0
English Conversation : Meeting an Old Friend
1. to bump into someone: to meet someone by chanceI bumped into Greg at the store.She bumped into her ex-friend at the concert.2. to be back in town: to return to town after being gone for a period of...

Sridevi D.

1 0
0
Spoken English- Basic
Capital Letters - A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z V A E I O U Out of the 26 letters in the English Alphabet, there are five vowels. Unlike the other letters of the Alphabet or consonants,...

Sridevi D.

1 0
0
Causative Verbs
Today, you’re going to learn a fascinating topic. First of all, read the following sentences carefully! I don’t let my kids go out after 7 pm. The teacher made all the students stand...
E

Effie

0 1
0

Recommended Articles

Learning foreign language in India

If you think English is enough to communicate with anybody in this world, you are sadly misinformed. Statistically the highest spoken foreign language in the world is Chinese with 20.7%, followed by English at 6.2%. That means that 93.8% of people do not speak English. This makes it necessary to learn another foreign language...

Read full article >

Choosing the right Foreign Language to learn...

When globalization was out of picture, it was enough to know just the mother tongue. Since globalization and out-sourcing have become part of life, there is a nagging need to learn new languages. Foreign languages help us to communicate with potential clients, sell our ideas and bond with their culture. It could be opening...

Read full article >

Which language is more useful to learn French...

Learning any second language could be a little bit tricky. However, to learn a language, one needs to write, read, understand and speak it appropriately. Therefore, many students and professionals find it helpful in learning a foreign language from a reputable and reliable source. A second language helps them to increase...

Read full article >

Job Prospects for German Language Learners

Due to globalization of the Indian economy, the demand for learning foreign languages is on the rise. ITES (Information Technology Enabled Service) and Outsourcing have brought a lot of job opportunities paving the way for the learning foreign languages. German is the native language of more than 100 million people in...

Read full article >

Find Spoken English classes near you
Spoken English classes in Delhi
Spoken English classes in Bangalore
Spoken English classes in Hyderabad
Spoken English classes in Chennai
Spoken English classes in Mumbai
Spoken English classes in Kolkata
Spoken English classes in Pune
Spoken English classes in Noida
Spoken English classes in Gurgaon
Spoken English classes in Lucknow
Online Spoken English Classes

Looking for Spoken English classes?

Learn from the Best Tutors on UrbanPro

Are you a Tutor or Training Institute?

Join UrbanPro Today to find students near you