- Japanese
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English (US)
What is the difference between Can I ～ and May I ～ ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
- English (US)
- Japanese Near fluent
"May I" is asking if someone will let you do something.
"Can I" is asking if you are capable of something.
But people usually just use "can I" for both situations.
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'May I' is a more polite way in asking to do something. Such as, "May I have the butter please?"
'Can I' is more casual amongst friends. An example would be, "Can I read that book now?"
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