different between may vs -able

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: m?, IPA^(key): /me?/
• Rhymes: -e?

Etymology 1

From Middle English mowen, mayen, mo?en, ma?en, from Old English magan, from Proto-West Germanic *magan, from Proto-Germanic *magan?, from Proto-Indo-European *meg?-.

Cognate with Dutch mag (“may”, first and third-person singular of mogen (“to be able to, be allowed to, may”)), Low German mögen, German mag (“like”, first and third-person singular of mögen (“to like, want, require”)), Swedish må, Icelandic mega, megum. See also might.

Verb

may (third-person singular simple present may, no present participle, simple past might, no past participle)

1. (obsolete, intransitive) To be strong; to have power (over). [8th–17th c.]
2. (obsolete, auxiliary) To be able; can. [8th–17th c.]
3. (intransitive, poetic) To be able to go. [from 9th c.]
4. (modal auxiliary verb, defective) To have permission to, be allowed. Used in granting permission and in questions to make polite requests. [from 9th c.]

   Synonyms: can, could, might

5. (modal auxiliary verb, defective) Expressing a present possibility; possibly. [from 13th c.]

   Synonyms: could, might

6. (subjunctive present, defective) Expressing a wish (with present subjunctive effect). [from 16th c.]

   Synonym: might

7. Used in modesty, courtesy, or concession, or to soften a question or remark.

Usage notes

• May is now a defective verb. It has no infinitive, no past participle, and no future tense. Forms of to be allowed to are used to replace these missing tenses.
• The simple past (both indicative and subjunctive) of may is might
• The present tense is negated as may not, which can be contracted to mayn't, although this is old-fashioned; the simple past is negated as might not, which can be contracted to mightn't.
• May has archaic second-person singular present forms mayest and mayst.
• Usage of this word in the sense of possibly is considered incorrect by some speakers and writers, as it blurs the meaning of the word in the sense have permission to. These speakers and writers prefer to use the word might instead.
• Conversely, since may not is particularly likely to promote confusion between the senses of "will possibly not" and "is forbidden to," some rules for the drafting of laws and regulations proscribe "may not" and require the use of "must not" or similar for clarity. Example: [2]
• Wishes are often cast in the imperative rather than the subjunctive mood, not using the word may, as in Have a great day! rather than May you have a great day. The use of may for this purpose may lend a more formal, literary, or solemn feeling (perhaps jocularly so) to the wish. Moreover, wishes in the subjunctive need not use may if the meaning is clear without it, which is the case mainly for established expressions in the third-person singular such as God help you.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• Appendix:English modal verbs
• Appendix:English tag questions

Etymology 2

French mai, so called because it blossoms in the month of May.

Noun

may (uncountable)

1. The hawthorn bush or its blossoms.

Derived terms

• Italian may
• mayhaw

Translations

Verb

may (third-person singular simple present mays, present participle maying, simple past and past participle mayed)

1. (poetic, intransitive) To gather may, or flowers in general.
2. (poetic, intransitive) To celebrate May Day.

Etymology 3

Shortening of maid, from maiden.

Noun

may (plural mays)

1. (archaic) A maiden.

Anagrams

• Amy, MYA, Mya, Yam, mya, yam

Azerbaijani

Noun

may (definite accusative may?, plural maylar)

1. May

Declension

See also

• (Gregorian calendar months) ay; yanvar, fevral, mart, aprel, may, iyun, iyul, avqust, sentyabr, oktyabr, noyabr, dekabr ^{(Category: az:Months)}

Bikol Central

Verb

may

1. there is
2. to have

Synonyms

• igwa

Antonyms

• mayo
• wara

Crimean Tatar

Noun

may

1. butter, oil

Declension

Synonyms

• ya?

Kalasha

Determiner

may

1. my

Pronoun

may

1. me

Mapudungun

Adverb

may (using Raguileo Alphabet)

1. yes

References

• Wixaleyiñ: Mapucezugun-wigkazugun pici hemvlcijka (Wixaleyiñ: Small Mapudungun-Spanish dictionary), Beretta, Marta; Cañumil, Dario; Cañumil, Tulio, 2008.

Northern Kurdish

Noun

may m

1. intervention

Derived terms

• mayê xwe tê dan
• maytêder
• maytêderî
• maytêker
• maytêkerî
• mayê xwe tê kirin

Quechua

Adverb

may

1. where
2. like, how, very

Derived terms

• maykama
• mayman
• maymanta
• maypi

See also

• may may

Pronoun

may

1. (interrogative pronoun) which

Verb

may

1. (transitive) to fear

Conjugation

Tagalog

Particle

may

1. particle used as an existential marker

   Antonym: wala

Synonyms

• mayroon
• meron

Tatar

Alternative forms

• ??? (may)

Noun

may

1. May (Month of the Year)

Declension

See also

• Previous: äpril. * Next: yün

Uzbek

Etymology

From Russian ??? (maj), from Latin m?ius.

Noun

may (plural maylar)

1. May

Declension

Related terms

• (Gregorian calendar months) oy; yanvar, fevral, mart, aprel, may, iyun, iyul, avgust, sentabr, oktabr, noyabr, dekabr ^{(Category: uz:Months)}

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà N?i) IPA^(key): [maj??]
• (Hu?) IPA^(key): [maj??]
• (H? Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ma(?)j??]

Etymology 1

Cognate with Muong b?l.

Verb

may • (????, ????, ????, ????)

1. to sew

Derived terms

See also

• khâu

Etymology 2

Adjective

may • (?, ?, ????, ????, ????, ????, ????)

1. lucky

   Synonym: hên

Derived terms

Walloon

Etymology

From Old French mai, from Latin M?ius.

Noun

may

1. May (month)

See also

• (Gregorian calendar months) djanvî, fevrî, måss, avri, may, djun, djulete, awousse, setimbe, octôbe, nôvimbe, decimbe ^{(Category: wa:Months)}

English

Alternative forms

• -ible (not productive)

Etymology

• From Middle English -able, borrowed from Old French -able, from Latin -?bilis, from -a- or -i- + -bilis (“capable or worthy of being acted upon”), from Proto-Indo-European i-stem form *-d?li- of *-d?lom (“instrumental suffix”).
• Not closely related etymologically, though currently related semantically, to able.
• Displaced native Old English -endl?c.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?.bl?/

Suffix

-able

1. An adjectival suffix; forms adjectives meaning:
   1. Able to be done; fit to be done.

      movable: able to be moved

      amendable: able to be amended

      breakable: liable to broken

      blamable: fit to be blamed

      salable: fit to be sold

   2. Relevant to or suitable to, in accordance with.

      fashionable: relevant to fashion

      seasonable: suitable to season

   3. Giving, or inclined to.

      pleasurable: giving pleasure

      peaceable: inclined to peace

   4. Subject to.

      reportable: subject to be reported

      taxable: subject to be taxed

   5. Due to be.

      payable: due to pay

Usage notes

• Originally used only on French and Latin words, like separable. Over time -able was added to stems of English verbs ending in -ate, such as educable. Finally, due to probable confusion with the word able, it was used to form adjectives from all sorts of verbs, nouns, and even verb phrases, such as kickable, get-at-able, and hittable.
• While a terminal silent -e is usually dropped when adding a suffix beginning with a vowel, which is followed by -able, the -e is not dropped when adding -able if the root ends with a soft -ce and -ge, as in replaceable and changeable, so that these are not misinterpreted as hard ‘c’ or ‘g’ sounds. This same rule is used for -ous, as in courageous.
• As when adding the suffix -ed, a final consonant of a root should be doubled if the preceding vowel is short and (in British English) stressed.
• The form -ible has the same senses and pronunciation. The choice between the two is somewhat idiosyncratic, but in general, -ible is used in forms derived from Latin verbs of the second, third, and fourth conjugations, and in a few words whose roots end in a soft c or g, while -able is used in all other such words, particularly those formed from Latin verbs of the first conjugation and those that come from French or from Anglo-Saxon (Old English). Fowler's English Usage recommends using -ible for simplicity's sake in any word whose root ends in a soft c or g to avoid -eable (e.g., *changible rather than changeable), but this recommendation has generally not been followed.
• A number of adjectives in -able come from verbs that do not have direct objects, but that rather are construed with prepositions. In these cases, the preposition does not appear with the adjective in -able; hence, reliable (“fit to being relied on”), laughable (“suited for laughing at”), remarkable (“fit to be remarked upon”), and so on.
• Traditionally, verbs ending in -ate drop this suffix before adding -able; hence, communicable (“able to be communicated”), eradicable (“possible to eradicate”), implacable (“unable to be placated”), inimitable (“unable to imitate”), and so on, but relatable, because relate is re- + -late, not rel- + -ate. Logically one should therefore say rotable to mean "able to be rotated", but rotatable has become accepted.
• There are cases where a word with un- -able is much more common than one with just -able, such as unbreakable, unsinkable, and untouchable.

Derived terms

Related terms

• able
• ability
• -ability
• -worthy

Translations

Anagrams

• Abel, Bale, Beal, Blea, Ebla, Elba, albe, bael, bale, beal, blea

Catalan

Etymology

From Old Occitan, from Latin -?bilis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /?-a.bl?/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /?-a.ble/

Suffix

-able (masculine and feminine plural -ables)

1. -able

Usage notes

This suffix is used for verbs of the first conjugation, which end in -ar and are the most common. For other verbs, the suffix is -ible.

Derived terms

French

Etymology

From Middle French -able, from Old French -able, from Latin -?bilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /abl/

Suffix

-able (plural -ables)

1. -able

Galician

Alternative forms

• -ábel

Etymology

From Latin -?bilis.

Suffix

-able

1. -able

Derived terms

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French -able, from Latin -?bilis.

Suffix

-able (plural -ables)

1. -able

Descendants

• French: -able

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• -abel
• -abelt

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???bl?/
• Rhymes: -??bl?
• Hyphenation: ab?le

Suffix

-able

1. singular definite & plural form of -abel

Anagrams

• bale, bela

Old French

Etymology

From Latin -?bilis.

Suffix

-able (plural -ables)

1. worthy of, deserving of

   ?honorer (“to honor”) + ?-able ? ?honnorable (“honorable”)

2. -ing, creating an effect, an influence

   ?forsener (“to become insane or enraged”) + ?-able ? ?forsenable (“maddening”)

Descendants

• ? Middle English: -able
  • English: -able
• Middle French: -able
  • French: -able

Spanish

Etymology

From Old Spanish, from Latin -?bilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?able/, [?a.??le]

Suffix

-able (plural -ables)

1. -able

Derived terms