Re: "May" vs. "Can"

Subject: Re: "May" vs. "Can"
From: Bob Morse <morse -at- INXPRESS -dot- NET>
Date: Sun, 13 Aug 1995 13:14:19 GMT

On 12 Aug 1995, Sue Heim wrote:

> Hey folks! I need your collective opinion...

> How do you feel about using "may" or "can" in docs and marketing
> collaterals.

Well, it's a fine line, but I've always seen the difference this way:
"Can" connotes power/capability, in the sense that the subject (of the
sentence) has the power/capability to ... [predicate]. "May" suggests that
the the predicate of the sentence characterizes an optional task/procedure.
For example:

You can save your custom-report definition to a disk file, so that
you can reapply it to other data sets. [The "save" feature is a
capability of the app that is at the user's disposal.]

You may save your custom-report definition to a disk file, so that
you can reapply it to other data sets. [The "save" feature is a
procedural option, to be invoked at the user's discretion.]


In this distinction, "may" is more localized in time, since the option is
available only at a particular step within a longer procedure.


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