A. Wallwork
, English for Research Usage, Style, and Grammar,DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-1593-0_12, © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
12.1 present and future ability and possibility can versus may 1.
Can indicates a characteristic behavior. When certain conditions are met or desired,
can indicates that things are possible but do not necessarily happen.
2.
May indicates only the potential for something to happen. It indicates uncertainty and is thus used to make hypotheses,
to speculate about the future, or to talk about probability.
CAN MAY 1,2 Bilinguals are people that
can speak two languages. Bilinguals
may sometimes have learning difficulties when very young.
1,2 Government cuts in education funding
can have devastating effects on research (Ref. 12–28). In the next
decade such government cuts may lead to the closure of several universities.
1,2 This situation
can be [= This situation is quite dangerous when hydrogen is present in the chamber. Such dangers
can be mitigated by properly designing the compartments. It
may be dangerous to speculate about the possibilities of this actually happening as so many factors are involved.
1,2 It
can rain [= It
rains a lot during a monsoon, up to 20 cm of rain atone time. It usually rains a lot during a monsoon, but this year it
may rain less as a result of global warming.
1,2 From this perspective, the costs of low short-term interest rates
can be seen largely as adjustment costs.
Interest rates may go up again in the near future.
3,2 I
can see [= I will see you tomorrow – what time shall we meet I
may be here tomorrow, but I am not
100% sure.
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