Worksheet

Permission   can, could, may, might   The most common modal verbs to talk about permission are  can ,  could ,  may,  and  might . Can  I sit here?  (informal; asking for permission) You  can / can’t   sit here. Could  I  use  this chair?  (more polite) You  may   use  this chair.  (formal; giving permission) Might / May  I  use  this chair.  (more formal; asking for permission) Sorry, you  can’t   use  this chair . (informal; refusing permission) Sorry, you   may not   use  this chair.  (formal; refusing permission)   was/were allowed to, couldn’t   To talk about the past, we use the forms  was/were allowed to  or  couldn’t . He  wasn’t allowed to sit  down during the lesson. He  couldn’t sit  down during the lesson.  He  was allowed to receive  visits.  (NOT  could ) ...