2: Modals of Permission

 Asking for permission

It’s normal to use ‘can’ and ‘could’ to ask for permission. ‘Could’ is more polite and it very commonly used between adults.

·       Can I sit here?

·       Could I sit here?

‘May’ is mostly used between children and parents or teachers. When it’s used between adults, it’s quite formal.

·       May I sit here?

‘Might’ is now very formal and old fashioned. It’s rare to hear it.

·       Might I sit here?

‘Be allowed to’ is mostly used between children and adults. If it’s used between adults it’s often asking about an outside rule.

·       Am I allowed to sit here?

It’s possible to use ‘can’t’ and ‘couldn’t’ as negative questions. Normally here we mean ‘isn’t it allowed?’ – we are asking the same thing as the normal question, but we are expressing surprise.

·       Can’t I sit here?

·       Couldn’t I sit here?

However, if we use ‘not’ separately and stress it, it’s possible to ask for permission not to do something.

·       Can I NOT do the report? = is it okay if I don’t do the report?

·       Could we NOT meet tonight? I’m really tired.

Future permission

It’s possible to use ‘can’ or ‘could’ with a future time word to ask for future permission.

·       Could I borrow your car tomorrow?

·       Can we leave at six?

We can also use ‘will be allowed to’. This stresses that the person isn’t asking permission now but for later.

·       Will I be allowed to leave early?

Giving and Refusing Permission

We don’t usually use ‘could / couldn’t’ in the reply when someone asks for permission.

·       Could I sit here? Yes, you can / no you can’t. (NOT: yes you could / no you couldn’t)

Exception: we can use ‘could’ in the answer when we are talking about something hypothetical.

·       Could I hand in my essay next week?

·       Well you could, but then I won’t really have time to mark it properly.

It’s also possible to use ‘must not / mustn’t’ to tell someone that it’s not allowed to do something. See the section about obligation for more about this.

·       You mustn’t sit there!

·       You mustn’t come home late.

Normally, we use ‘can’t’ to say that something isn’t allowed. But (in the same way as with negative questions) we sometimes use ‘can … NOT’ (the stress on ‘not’) to say that it’s okay not to do something.

·       You can come to the party or you can not come to the party, whatever you like.

Talking about rules and laws in the present / future

We usually use ‘can / can’t’, ‘be allowed to’ and ‘must not’ to talk about rules or laws.

·       You can’t travel on the bus without a ticket.

·       Everyone can park by the station.

·       You’re not allowed to smoke in the theatre.

·       You mustn’t park next to the entrance.

More formally, we can use ‘may / may not’ in the same situations, but this is not common.

·       Everyone may park by the station.

We also use ‘can / can’t’ and ‘be allowed to’ to talk about permission that has already been given or refused.

·       I’m not allowed to go to the party tonight.

·       The children can watch TV after dinner.

We also use ‘will / shall’ for rules e.g. of exams and competitions.

·       The judge’s decision shall be final.

Talking about rules and laws in the past

To talk about general permission in the past, we use ‘could / couldn’t’ and ‘was / were (not) allowed to’.

·       When I was at school, we could go to the gym at lunchtime.

·       When I was a child, I couldn’t watch TV in the morning.

However, we don’t use ‘could’ to talk about one particular instance of permission in the past. Instead, we need to use ‘was / were allowed to’.

·       Last night, she was allowed to go to the party.

·       Not: last night, she could go to the party.

It’s okay to use both ‘couldn’t’ and ‘wasn’t / weren’t allowed to’ for one particular instance though.

·       Last night she couldn’t go to the party.

·       Last night she wasn’t allowed to go to the party.

Hypothetical / conditional permission in the present / future

Could = would be allowed to

This is used to talk about permission when we want to use a hypothetical or conditional meaning.

·       He could come late. Nobody would mind (= he would be allowed to come late).

·       You could stay at home but then I wouldn’t be able to do all the work.

·       If John came early to help, Lucy could arrive whenever she liked.

Hypothetical / conditional permission in the past

We use ‘could + have + past participle’ to talk about permission for things that didn’t happen in the past. This is used for conditional and hypothetical situations.

·       Could I have gone home early? (I didn’t go home early but I’m asking if it was allowed.)

·       Could we have delayed the meeting? (We didn’t delay the meeting but I want to know if it would have been possible.)

We can use ‘could + have + past participle’ in this way to talk about something that would definitely have been allowed in the past, but that didn’t happen.

·       I don’t know why he decided not to come at all. He could have come late.

Permission or possibility?

Sometimes it’s really hard to know if a sentence with ‘can’ is about permission or possibility. Often in this situation, it can be both and we have to use the context to decide.

·       Can Julie come to the party? (= is Julie allowed to come to the party? Or ‘is it possible for Julie to come to the party?)