The main difference between Can and May is that Can is an auxiliary verb in the English language that is used to express ability and to ask permission, whereas May is also an English auxiliary verb that is used to express possibility or to seek permission.
Can
A usually cylindrical metal container.
May
A hawthorn or its blossoms.
Can
An airtight container, usually made of tin-coated iron, in which foods or beverages are preserved.
May
The fifth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar. See Table at calendar.
Can
The contents of such a container
Ate a can of beans.
May
The springtime of life; youth.
Can
(Slang) A jail or prison.
May
The celebration of May Day.
Can
(Slang) A toilet or restroom.
May
To be strong; to have power (over).
Can
(Slang) A naval destroyer.
Can
To seal in an airtight container for future use; preserve
Canning peaches.
May
To have permission to, be allowed. Used in granting permission and in questions to make polite requests.
You may smoke outside;
May I sit there?
Can
(Slang) To make a recording of
Can the audience's applause for a TV comedy show.
May
Expressing a present possibility; possibly.
He may be lying;
Schrödinger's cat may or may not be in the box
Can
To end the employment of; fire.
May
Expressing a wish (with present subjunctive effect).
May you win;
May the weather be sunny
Can
To put an end or stop to
Canned the TV show after one season.
Told the students to can the chatter.
May
Used in modesty, courtesy, or concession, or to soften a question or remark.
Can
To solicit cash donations for a charity or other organization such as a club or amateur sports team by holding out a can or other container in a public place.
May
To gather may, or flowers in general.
Can
To know how to; to be able to.
She can speak English, French, and German.
I can play football.
Can you remember your fifth birthday?
Can
May; to be permitted or enabled to.
You can go outside and play when you're finished with your homework.
Can I use your pen?
May
The hawthorn bush or its blossoms.
Can
(modal auxiliary verb, defective) To have the potential to; be possible.
Can it be Friday already?
Teenagers can really try their parents' patience.
Animals can experience emotions.
Can
Used with verbs of perception.
Can you hear that?.
I can feel the baby moving inside me.
May
An auxiliary verb qualifying the meaning of another verb,
How may a man, said he, with idle speech,Be won to spoil the castle of his health!
For what he [the king] may do is of two kinds; what he may do as just, and what he may do as possible.
For of all sad words of tongue or penThe saddest are these: "It might have been."
May
Liberty; permission; allowance.
Thou mayst be no longer steward.
Can
To seal in a can.
They canned air to sell as a novelty to tourists.
May
Contingency or liability; possibility or probability.
Though what he learns he speaks, and may advanceSome general maxims, or be right by chance.
Can
To preserve by heating and sealing in a jar or can.
They spent August canning fruit and vegetables.
May
Modesty, courtesy, or concession, or a desire to soften a question or remark.
How old may Phillis be, you ask.
Can
To discard, scrap or terminate (an idea, project, etc.).
He canned the whole project because he thought it would fail.
May
Desire or wish, as in prayer, imprecation, benediction, and the like.
Can
To shut up.
Can your gob.
Can
To fire or dismiss an employee.
The boss canned him for speaking out.
May
The fifth month of the year, containing thirty-one days.
May
The early part or springtime of life.
His May of youth, and bloom of lustihood.
Can
(transitive) To cover (the fuel element in a nuclear reactor) with a protective cover.
May
The flowers of the hawthorn; - so called from their time of blossoming; also, the hawthorn.
The palm and may make country houses gay.
Plumes that mocked the may.
Can
A more or less cylindrical vessel for liquids, usually of steel or aluminium, but sometimes of plastic, and with a carrying handle over the top.
May
The merrymaking of May Day.
Can
A container used to carry and dispense water for plants (a watering can).
May
The month following April and preceding June
Can
A tin-plate canister, often cylindrical, for preserved foods such as fruit, meat, or fish.
May
Thorny Eurasian shrub of small tree having dense clusters of white to scarlet flowers followed by deep red berries; established as an escape in eastern North America
Can
A chamber pot, now a toilet or lavatory.
Shit or get off the can.
Bob's in the can. You can wait a few minutes or just leave it with me.
Can
(slang) Jail or prison.
Bob's in the can. He won't be back for a few years.
Can
(archaic) A drinking cup.
Can
(nautical) A cube-shaped buoy or marker used to denote a port-side lateral mark
Can
An E-meter used in Scientology auditing.
Can
An ounce (or sometimes, two ounces) of marijuana.
Can
A protective cover for the fuel element in a nuclear reactor.
Can
An obs. form of began, imp. & p. p. of Begin, sometimes used in old poetry. [See Gan.]
With gentle words he can faile gree.
Can
A drinking cup; a vessel for holding liquids.
Fill the cup and fill can,Have a rouse before the morn.
Can
A vessel or case of tinned iron or of sheet metal, of various forms, but usually cylindrical; as, a can of tomatoes; an oil can; a milk can.
Can
To preserve by putting in sealed cans
Can
To know; to understand.
I can rimes of Rodin Hood.
I can no Latin, quod she.
Let the priest in surplice white,That defunctive music can.
Can
To be able to do; to have power or influence.
The will of Him who all things can.
For what, alas, can these my single arms?
Mæcænas and Agrippa, who can most with Cæsar.
Can
To be able; - followed by an infinitive without to; as, I can go, but do not wish to.
Yet he could not but acknowledge to himself that there was something calculated to impress awe, . . . in the sudden appearances and vanishings . . . of the masque
Tom felt that this was a rebuff for him, and could not but understand it as a left-handed hit at his employer.
Can
Airtight sealed metal container for food or drink or paint etc.
Can
The quantity contained in a can
Can
A buoy with a round bottom and conical top
Can
The fleshy part of the human body that you sit on;
He deserves a good kick in the butt
Are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?
Can
A plumbing fixture for defecation and urination
Can
A room equipped with toilet facilities
Can
Preserve in a can or tin;
Tinned foods are not very tasty
Can
Terminate the employment of;
The boss fired his secretary today
The company terminated 25% of its workers
The use of Can is observed in informal talks. As compared to its counter word Can, the verb May is used more in formal situations. Can is an auxiliary verb in the English language that is used to express ability and to ask permission. May is also an English auxiliary verb that is used to express possibility or to seek permission. In the informal situation, ‘Can’ imply the meaning that a person is able to do some task; in informal talks, it is used to ask for permission. May is mostly used formally to take or give permission for doing something; in general, it discusses any possibility or happenings of the future.
Can refer to the possibility or capability to do something, e.g., ‘I am sure that I can complete my assignment today. May denotes the seeking of permission, e.g. ‘May I take this book?” When seeking permission, Can is used with peers or age fellows as it sounds less formal and less polite. May sounds more formal, and it is correctly used when asking for permission from a teacher or of a person superior in age or rank.
Can is less polite, and it is used in the frank and casual situation of taking permission. May is more polite, and it is used in and making requests, and the situations of courtesy. Can also refer to determine the ability, e.g., ‘Can you lift the table alone?’ May refer to denotes possibility, e.g., You may lift the table alone.
Can is an auxiliary verb that is used to express the physical or mental ability of a person to do something. e.g., “Can you translate this letter into English?” It is also implied to request for something, e.g., Can you pass the pen to the boy sitting next to you? Sometimes it also denotes the possibility, e.g., You can be fine with prevention and care. It is used to offer help or suggestion, e.g., Can I solve the puzzle for you?
The word Can is derived from the Old English word cunnan, meaning “to be able.” It mainly refers to the capability of a person. In the informal situation, it also asks for permission to do something. If a question asks by implying ‘Can,’ the auxiliary verb can also have ‘Can’ in its answer. e.g., Can you pass me the remote? No, I can’t.
May is an auxiliary verb that is used to ask for or to grant permission. It is used in formal situations. When someone asks for permission by applying my, then the reply will also be having ‘May’ in the formal situation. For example, if a person says, “May I come inside?” then the other would say, “Yes, you may” or “No, you may not come in.”
May is used for creating more politeness. People prefer using May in the formal scenario, e.g., At a fancy restaurant asking the waiter, “May I have some more water?” However, the word May do not express an ability. The appropriate meanings with May are, it is used to represent the possibility, e.g., She may not like the cake I baked for her. It is used to ask or give permission. Furthermore, May is used to expressing wishes and hopes, e.g., “May all your dreams come true.”
