May i help you how may i help you
May i help you how may i help you
How «May» I Help You? Vs How «Can» I Help You?
In theory those people can come over to your house and bring you dinner, draw your bath, make up your bed, and lay out your pajamas. They can even scrub your back. Even on the phone they can teach you a list of curse words in English or their native language.
But you may not want or allow them to do these things.
So they ask «How may I help you.»
It’s just like asking the teacher «Can I go to the bathroom?» «I don’t know. Can you?»
Thanks for the reply. I often reply to anyone excusing himself/herself to go to the toilet «You can but you may not.» but this «How may I help you?» felt really awkward to my ears. «May I help you?» sounds friendlier to me.
For my part, I find the «I don’t know. Can you?» and «You can but you may not» to be contemptible answers. There is no mystery what the child posing the question is asking indeed, the usage is now standard and the teacher is not only being dishonest by feigning ignorance about what the questioner is asking but is showing actual ignorance by being unaware of the standard nature of the usage.
From MWCD11: «The use of can to ask or grant permission has been common since the 19th century and is well established, although some commentators feel may is more appropriate in formal contexts.» The AHD4 has a usage note making a similar point.
Standard English is spoken in classrooms, but that is not the same as the classroom being a formal context it is not. The English spoken in classrooms is informal Standard English. (This is my experience: Have you ever been in any classroom where you were forbidden from using contractions in speech, for example?)
Even in what might be considered formal or at least semi-formal settings, «can» has been used this way for a century or more: Burchfield has a quotation from the Church Times in 1905: «No one can play the organ during service time without the consent of the Vicar».
Cheers, Harvey
Ottawa/Toronto/Edmonton for 30 years;
Southern England for the past 21 years.
(for e-mail, change harvey to whhvs)
How to pronounce «How may I help you»
sentence: How may i help you
I am facing difficult to pronounce between 3 and 4.
Suggest me what are the exercises I need to do for improve pronunciation.
Normally I can pronounce the sentence «I will meet» but once when I was talking with my friend I used that sentence like _I will mill». Likewise sometimes happening to me how can I overcome this problem.
2 Answers 2
Your issue isn’t entirely clear, but from what I can glean, practicing tongue twisters is your best bet. Tongue twisters repeat tricky sounds in combination, and mastering tongue twisters (being able to say it reliably all the way through correctly) should help you over this problem.
Here are a couple of deceptively simple ones (say each one 3 times fast):
You can find plenty more online. A couple of classic long ones (no need to repeat, just get all the way through) are «peter piper», «she sells sea shells», and «how much wood could a woodchuck chuck».
Of course, since you have a specific problem, you should look for a tongue twister that puts those particular sounds together. Or just make up your own. The point is to practice. This is a question of training your muscles to do what you need.
Also, being a non-native speaker, you may find that the tongue twisters that are hard for native speakers are no problem for you, and vice versa.
May i help you how may i help you
If somebody is asking, in a shop for example, both of these are the same.
«May I help you?» means ‘what can I do for you?»
«How may I help you?» means the same.
«May I help you?» is used when you want to know if a person needs help.
«How may I help you?» is used when somebody asks for help and you want to know in what way you can help the person.
‘How can i help you’ is better than ‘may’
If somebody is asking, in a shop for example, both of these are the same.
«May I help you?» means ‘what can I do for you?»
«How may I help you?» means the same.
Символ показывает уровень знания интересующего вас языка и вашу подготовку. Выбирая ваш уровень знания языка, вы говорите пользователям как им нужно писать, чтобы вы могли их понять.
Мне трудно понимать даже короткие ответы на данном языке.
Могу задавать простые вопросы и понимаю простые ответы.
Могу формулировать все виды общих вопросов. Понимаю ответы средней длины и сложности.
Понимаю ответы любой длины и сложности.
Решайте свои проблемы проще в приложении!
( 30 698 )
May i help you how may i help you
-May I help you? (Yes or no question)
-Yes please, I could use some help.
-How may I help you? (What can I do to help you?)
-I’d like you to know where the cereal aisle is
-May I help you? (Yes or no question)
-Yes please, I could use some help.
-How may I help you? (What can I do to help you?)
-I’d like you to know where the cereal aisle is
Символ показывает уровень знания интересующего вас языка и вашу подготовку. Выбирая ваш уровень знания языка, вы говорите пользователям как им нужно писать, чтобы вы могли их понять.
Мне трудно понимать даже короткие ответы на данном языке.
Могу задавать простые вопросы и понимаю простые ответы.
Могу формулировать все виды общих вопросов. Понимаю ответы средней длины и сложности.
Понимаю ответы любой длины и сложности.
Решайте свои проблемы проще в приложении!
( 30 698 )
Can/Might/May I help you?
casino
Senior Member
Could you tell me the difference between «May I help you?» and «How may I help you?»?
cropje_jnr
Senior Member
May I help you? = This is more general, akin to «Am I able to help you (in any way)?» It could be answered with a simple «yes.»
How may I help you? = This is more specific. «In what way can I help you?» You cannot answer by merely saying «yes»; you must specify how the person can help you.
casino
Senior Member
Thank you, cropje jnr.
cfu507
Senior Member
mtmjr
Senior Member
Categenesis
Member
I don’t know. my butler uses it all the time. followed by «master.»
New Member
sometimes I see some foreigners try to find the way on the street. whenever i see them I feel like to ask them if they need help.
I’m curious if I can say «Can I help you??» to them for this situation.
«Do you need help?» or «Can I help you?» or both of them are possible to use??
Thanks in advance!
Nunty
Senior Member
Categenesis
Member
sometimes I see some foreigners try to find the way on the street. whenever i see them I feel like to ask them if they need help.
I’m curious if I can say «Can I help you??» to them for this situation.
«Do you need help?» or «Can I help you?» or both of them are possible to use??
Thanks in advance!
I rather like «Can I help you?» (rather than «May I help you?» which you didn’t ask about) because after I hear their problem, I find that I often can’t. so the «to be able to» aspect of «can» is definitely there for me.
«Do you need help?» is what I might ask someone who looked ill, or who was an apparent victim of someone’s physical or verbal abuse.