Can, May and “Можна”: Expressing Permission in English, German and Ukrainian (with Russian Parallels)
Comparative Linguistics

Can, May and “Можна”: Expressing Permission in English, German and Ukrainian (with Russian Parallels)

Why Permission Is More Complex Than It Seems Many learners believe that asking permission is simple. You say: “Can I…?” But language is rarely that simple. In English, German and Ukrainian, permission and possibility are expressed differently.And when students transfer patterns from Slavic languages into English or German, subtle mistakes appear. Understanding these differences is […]

Tymur Levitin Tymur Levitin
28.04.2026 3 min read

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