Difference Between May And Might Modals. It may have got lost in the post. There is only a possibility.
Modality is in a word a mess. The restaurant could close. Unusual forms gerund participle etc are not used for modal verbs the exception is the verb to need.
You note correctly that can means ability and may means permission but this is not all that they mean.
ESL Lesson about the modal verbs MAY and MIGHT in EnglishWe look at how to create sentences using May and MightWe then look at the different uses of these. For can and may the preterite forms are generally used with a greater degree of modal remoteness than are. The restaurant may close. It is likely that the restaurant will close.
