"Mother, can I eat another piece of pie?" once asked a boy at the dinner table.
"I suppose you can, Tom," replied his mother. "You have teeth to bite and chew, and there is room in your stomach for another piece. Yes, I suppose you can eat another piece. But you may not, because I want to save it for to-morrow."
Oral Exercise. 1. Read the following sentences and try to tell the difference in meaning between may and can:
1. I can run faster than you.
2. I can write my name.
3. May I write my name in your notebook? Will you let me?
4. May I run over to George's house, mother?
5. I can do many things.
6. May I read the book Santa Claus gave you?
7. I can read books.
2. Do you see that when you say, "I can do this," you mean, "I am able to do this"? What do you mean when you say, "May I go to the moving-picture theater, Mother?" Do you mean, "Will you permit me to go?"
3. Fill each blank in the sentences below with the right word, may or can:
1. John, —— you spell Eskimo?
2. Father, —— I go with John to the game?
3. Miss Brown, —— I change my seat?
4. Miss Brown, —— you see me when I stand here?
5. Mary, —— you find that book for me?
6. —— you touch the ceiling when you are on the chair?
7. —— I go home at three o'clock, Miss Smith?
8. Miss Smith, —— I borrow a pencil of Ruth?
9. Miss Smith, —— you speak French?
10. Miss Smith, —— I have another sheet of paper?
Game. 1. Let the boys write on the board a number of sentences in which may is used correctly. Then let the girls do the same. Now let the girls read the boys' sentences. The boys will read those written by the girls. Who made the fewer mistakes?
2. After all sentences have been corrected (if they need to be corrected), let the boys read their sentences aloud, and the girls theirs. The teacher will tell whose reading was the better.