Improve Your Vocabulary: 8 Ways to Ask 'CAN I...?'

Want to add colour to your English? One way to sound more natural is to learn to different ways to say things. In this conversational English lesson, I'll show you eight ways to ask "Can I...?". You'll learn formal and informal ways of asking for permission, and even some slang. I'll also show you how some of this vocabulary can be used both as a verb and a noun. Most importantly, you'll hear example sentences to help you understand how native speakers really use these words and expressions. This lesson is great for anyone taking IELTS or TOEFL, or if you just want to add variety to your English.

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TRANSCRIPT

Hi, and welcome back to engVid. In today's lesson we're looking at expanding your vocabulary, so whether you're preparing for an IELTS speaking test or whether just generally you want your speaking to become more interesting and varied, then this is a good lesson for you. We're taking the basic phrase: "Can I...?" looking for some sort of permission, and looking at different ways that we can say that. I also speak a little bit of French, and I find that I can only say: "Puis-je avoir", and I don't really have any other options. Obviously we're looking at English today.

So, a few years ago I found myself going down to the countryside and going for a rather awkward walk with my now father-in-law, and I had to ask for his permission to have his daughter's hand in marriage. Now, these are some ways that I could have said that. I could have said: "Graham, allow me to marry your daughter.", "Allow me" or: "Will you allow me to?" Obviously you've got the noun: "allowance". "Allowance" more normally refers to money, to have an allowance of money. You're allowed to have a certain sum of money. Okay.

Next word on the list for today: "permit". Now we have a noun here and a verb. The noun most often speaks to some sort of formal permit to do something. For example, to have a permit to go into a nature reserve. But if we're asking for permission, I can say: "Permit me to..." It's quite formal, so probably not the kind of thing I would say in conversation to someone I know well. It refers to permission. Here is the noun: "permission". "Can I have your permission to do this?", "Do I have your permission to do this?"

The next word: "let". "Let me". This is a little bit more forceful. It's taking a bit more control. "Let me do this." It's a little bit more persuasive. Also, we have "let" in terms of a rental. If you are sharing... If you are borrowing a place and you're living in it, you are letting it. You are letting it. It's a similar word to "rent".

Next word: "enable". So, the prefix "en", you have "able", putting me... Making me able to do something. "Help me to do this.", "Enable me to do the most wonderful thing in the world.", "Let me do this.", "Let me marry your daughter." Enable me. Make me able.

"Facilitate", now, this is a more formal word, more suited to the context of business English. But if I was to use this word, which would be a bit weird in the context, I would say something like: "Graham, I would like to facilitate a wedding with your daughter." It means to organize, but it's not quite the right word to use here.

"Consent". Again, a word that is used as a noun and as a verb. If I wanted to use it as a noun, I would say something like: "Graham, do I have your consent to marry your daughter?" Or if I wanted to use it as a verb: "Do you consent me to doing a certain course of action?", "Do you consent that I...?" Okay? So, noun and verb there.

"Go ahead", this is also the name of a sort of a cereal bar in the UK, the idea behind: "Go Ahead. Go on, you can do it." Again, noun and verb phrase. As a noun: "to get the go ahead", it means permission. "Do I have the go ahead to go and do this?" And as a verb: "I'm going to go ahead and do this." Okay? So: "Do I have your go ahead?", and as a verb: "Can I go ahead and do it?", "Can I go ahead and organize the wedding?"

And lastly, let's think of traffic lights, yeah. So, red, stop; amber, getting ready; green, off we go. So: "green light". So: "Is that a green light, Graham?" Okay? It's a sort of phrase to say: "Can I go off and do this?" Often this phrase is used in the world of film production. If a production has been agreed, the production has been green lit. It's ready to go.

I hope you are, too, now with these fantastic new phrases to add to your vocab bank. Why not test yourself by doing today's quiz? Until next time, take care.

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