0Modal are words, if simply put, used in place of helping verbs where helping verbs can't be used. There are many modals namely can, could, will, would, shall, should, must, need not, dare, ought to, used to and might.
In this lesson we are going to learn about can, may, might.
To begin with, the first modal of our lesson is-
can- can is used in four ways-
1) permission seeking- when you wish to take permission from someone on something we use can. For example, can i come in ?
2) permission giving- when you wish to give permission to someone we use can. For example, yes, you can come in.
3) possibility- when you wish to say that something may happen but there is no surety, we use can. For example, it can rain today.
4) ability-when you want to tell someone that you have the ability to do something or you know how to do something, we use can. For example, I can speak English.
may- may is used in three ways-
1) pemission seeking- when we wish to take permission on something we use may.
The difference between using can and may is that may is more formal while seeking permission, that is, if you are asking for permission from your boss, superior, teacher or anyone who needs to be addressed formally, we use may.
For example- May i use your pen?
2) permission giving- when you wish to give permission, you can use may. For example, yes, you may use my pen.
For giving permission both may and can, can be used, irrespective of the fomalty.
3) possibility- when you wish to say something might happen, its likely possible, we can use may.
Both may and can are appropriate here.
For example, it may rain today.
Our last modal for this lesson is might.
might- might is used only in one way.
1) possibility- when you wish to say something that may happen but there is no surety, we use might.
All three, can, may and might can be used based on your choice.
For example, it might rain today.
Wtih that we come to the end of this lesson. Hope you understood the usage and basic difference between the three modals.
Till next lesson, keep learning, keep growing.
Best wishes.
