may
VerbSubstantivVerbSubstantivTop 1 000 in Filmdialogen
- Vereinigtes Königreich//mɛj//
- Vereinigte Staaten//meɪ//
- Australien//mæɪ//
- Schottland//me//
- //mei//
To be able to go.
Verb
- 1
veraltetTo be strong; to have power (over).
- 2
veraltetTo be able; can.
But many times[…]we give way to passions we may resist and will not.
- 3
To be able to go.
O weary night, O long and tedious night, Abate thy houres, shine comforts from the East, That I may backe to Athens by day-light […].
- 4
To have permission to, be allowed. Used in granting permission and in questions to make polite requests.
you may smoke outside
may I sit there?
- 5
Granting the admissibility of a supposition, in a way that can be semantically either subjunctive or indicative. Expressing a present possibility; possibly.
he may be lying
Schrödinger's cat may or may not be in the box.
Sam may be intelligent, but he isn't wise. [This speaker does not know with certainty whether Sam is intelligent, but the speaker allows the possibility.]
A female crocodile may lay up to forty eggs. [Typical occurrence.]
- 6
Granting the admissibility of a supposition, in a way that can be semantically either subjunctive or indicative. Expressing a disjunctive or contrastive relation between indicative statements.
You may be my boss, but that doesn't mean you can insult me.
A: Sigh. I'm bummed that Stephen Hawking died. B: Well, he may have died, but he's still alive in our hearts. [This speaker does not doubt that Stephen has died; nonetheless, the verb inflection is not different.]
Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.
- 7
Expressing a wish (with present subjunctive effect).
may you win; may the weather be sunny; long may your reign last
Let us pray that peace may soon return to our war-torn homeland.
May God bless and keep you always / May your wishes all come true / May you always do for others / And let others do for you / May you build a ladder to the stars / And climb on every rung / May you stay forever young
May I never miss the thrill of being near you
- 8
Used in modesty, courtesy, or concession, or to soften a question or remark.
How old may Phillis be, you ask, / Whose Beauty thus all Hearts engages.
Herkunft
From Middle English magen, mauen, mawe, mawen, mayen, maȝen, mouin, mow, mowen, moȝen, mugen, from Old English magan, from Proto-West Germanic *magan, from Proto-Germanic *maganą (“to be able, may”), from Proto-Indo-European *(me)mógʰe (“to be able”), from *megʰ- (“to be able”). Cognates Cognate with Scots mey (“may”), Yola ma, maa, mai, mey, mye (“may”), North Frisian mai, mei, mooge (“like to, would”), West Frisian meie (“may; to like”), Alemannic German möge (“may; can”), Bavarian megn (“to like; to want to”), Central Franconian mugge (“to like; may”), Cimbrian mögan, möng (“may”), Dutch mogen (“to be allowed; may; to like”), German and Low German mögen (“to like; would like; may”), Yiddish מעגן (megn, “may”), Danish måtte (“have to; may”), Faroese and Icelandic mega (“may; must”), Norwegian Bokmål måtta (“may; must”), Norwegian Nynorsk måtta, måtte (“may; must”), Swedish må (“may; must”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌲𐌰𐌽 (magan, “to be able, can, may”); also Irish smacht (“ordinance, regulation, rule; dominion, sway; control, discipline, restraint; fine, penalty”), Lithuanian mėgti (“to like”), Belarusian магчы́ (mahčý, “to be able”), Bulgarian мо́га (móga, “to be able”), Czech moci (“to be able”), Kashubian mòc (“to be able”), Lower Sorbian moc, móc, moz (“to be able”), Macedonian може (može, “to be able”), Pannonian Rusyn мочи (moči, “to be able”), Polish móc (“to be able”), Russian мочь (močʹ, “to be able”), Serbo-Croatian мо̏ћи, mȍći (“to be able”), Slovak môcť (“to be able; be allowed to”), Slovene moči (“to be able”), Slovincian môc (“to be able”), Ukrainian могти́ (mohtý, “to be able”), Persian مغ (moġ, “magus”), Sanskrit मघ (magha, “power, wealth; bounty, gift, reward”).
Substantiv
- 1
The hawthorn bush or its blossoms.
The fire from Lindfield was coming down the grassy hillside to the right between the hedges of may.
Herkunft
From French mai, so called because it blossoms in the month of May.
Verb
- 1
To gather may, or flowers in general.
In valleys green and still / Where lovers wander maying
- 2
To celebrate May Day.
Substantiv
- 1
altertümlichA maiden.
Herkunft
From Middle English may, maye (“woman, maid, girl, virgin”), from Old English mǣġ (“kinswoman”), from Proto-West Germanic *māg, from Proto-Germanic *mēgaz (“kinsman”). Related to Old English māge, mǣġe (“kinswoman”) and Old English mǣġ (“kinsman”).
Formen
- Plural
- mays
- Präteritum
- might, mayed
- Partizip II
- mayed
- Partizip I
- maying
- 3. Person Singular
- mays