Blog Archives

How to use 'may'

22/1/2015

In English, the word ‘may’ is generally used in two quite distinct ways:
1) to give permission:

“You may leave when you have finished typing the document” {= “you have permission to leave when you have finished typing the document”]
“Candidates may bring a calculator into the exam” [= “Candidates have permission to bring a calculator into the exam”]

2) to express the possibility of something happening (generally when we use ‘may’ like this, we communicate the idea that something is not very likely to happen, or we are not very sure about it):

“It may rain tomorrow” [= “it is possible that it will rain tomorrow”]
“She may not like the new uniform” [= “it is possible that she will not like the new uniform”]

It is important to keep these two uses of ‘may’ quite separate. In a sentence, ‘may’ should either be used to give permission, or to communicate the idea of possibility. It can’t do both at once.
However, in Hong Kong English, some speakers mix up these two uses of ‘may’.

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Time to retire “the captioned subject”

4/1/2015

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Today I want to talk about a common expression in Hong Kong official writing: “the captioned X” (where X is a noun like study, topic, application etc). Here is an example:

Resumption of Original Traffic Arrangements on Chi Fu Road

[…] Appropriate traffic aids / signage will be provided at the time to guide motorists for the captioned resumption of traffic arrangements.

Here, “the captioned resumption” is intended to mean something like “the resumption previously mentioned in the heading of this document”. Similarly, in the next two examples, the words study and application have previously appeared in the headings of the two documents:

This paper is to consult Members on the scope of the captioned Study and the stages of consultation prior to finalisation of the draft study brief and invitation of expression of interests from Consultants to undertake the Study.
On 3.12.2013, the applicant submitted a revised traffic impact assessment report to support the captioned application.

The problem with this usage is that it is completely different from the way the word caption is used in modern standard English. Its normal usage nowadays is to mean “a short piece of text placed under or beside a picture to provide information about it”. Thus what you see below is a picture with a caption, or a captioned picture:

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How to Say "No"

1/1/2015

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Welcome to this very first blog post on the new Cygnet Communications Ltd website! My aim is for the Cygnet blog to be updated at least weekly. Each blog post will focus on a topic connected specifically with English usage in Hong Kong.I’m going to start by looking at some signs from around Hong Kong that prohibit certain things or actions in the form “NO + noun” – like the ones shown below. These Hong Kong signs are not the same as similar signs in standard English.