LAS LENGUAS INGLESA Y ESPAÑOLA de Delfín Carbonell

  At the risk of repeating myself, I must harp again about the Spanish "oír" and "escuchar." Language is changing every day, every minute, and everywhere. We hope this evolution takes place for the better, but not always. Just as English speakers are discarding "may" for "can," Spanish speakers are getting confused between "oír" and "escuchar", interchanging them helter-skelter. "He escuchado que see marcha usted a Panamá" suggests that I was eavesdropping. "He oído que see marcha usted a Panamás" means that the fact has come to my attention. "No le oígo, hable más alto" means that the sound I get is not clear. "No le escucho, hable más alto," infers that I don´t care what you are saying, so the rest of the sentence makes no sense.  But why this? Perhaps someone out there can tell me. Please do, I´m on tenterhooks.   

If and whether and can and may are not interchangeable in serious speaking and writing. Yes, yes... I know that native speakers, even academics, have adopted of late an irresponsable usage of may/can and if/whether lowering the effectiveness of language and the clarity of communication. But that is their problem, not ours. We will stick to effective English. IF , si, suponiendo que, a condición de, aunque, incertidumbre: Drink if you want to. If he comes I will tell him. A small cake if very tasty. His career is full of ifs. WHETHER, si, indicando duda, posibles alternativas: Tell me whether you´ll come to my party. I ignore whether he is rich. See whether she has finished the task. CAN, poder, saber: Can you do it? Can she speak Farsi? I can play the piano. MAY, poder, permiso, May I come in? You may not touch that. May I ask you a question? We have the old example of  the nine-year old Bobby who asks Johnny´s mother: "Can Johnny come out and play?" To whi...

Todos se lían con el verbo can y may , especialmente los británicos, (los de medio pelo, claro) que esos sí que la lían con los dos, dejando de lado may para complicar las cosas. May tiene un pasado: might. May indica posibilidad: It may rain today quiere decir que Puede que llueva hoy, que existe esa posibilidad.  May I come in? ¿Puedo, me da permiso, para entrar?  May I ask you a question? ¿Me permite que le haga una pregunta?   Might es el pasado e indica una posibilidad más remota: He might think we are not interested, Él pudiera pensar que no estamos interesados.   I may consider it , Puede que lo considere.  It may be a success, Puede que sea un éxito (puede que exista esa posibilidad).   I might consider it, A lo mejor lo considero. May I? ¿Me permites?