Could, may and polite requests

## Level and focus

**Level:** A2  
**Category:** Modal verbs

Use could and may to ask for permission and make polite requests.

By the end of this lesson, learners should be able to: **Choose appropriate modal forms for requests, permission and polite questions.**

## Core idea

This lesson adds a recommended grammar point that improves the coverage of the curriculum without changing the overall CEFR progression. Learners should first recognise the pattern, then practise controlled examples, and only later combine it with adjacent grammar.

## Form

- `Can/Could I...?`

• Can/Could you...?

• May I...? for more formal permission

• Would you like...? for offers

  Meaning and use

  Use this grammar when the speaker needs the meaning described in the lesson goal. The examples should stay close to the level and should not rely on advanced vocabulary or several new grammar points at once.

  Examples

  • Could you open the window, please?

• May I use your phone?

• Can I sit here?

• Would you like some water?

  Common mistakes

  • Using to after a modal: not Could you to help me?; use Could you help me?.

• Using may for ability: not I may swim very well; use I can swim very well.

• Forgetting please or polite framing: not Give me your pen; use Could you give me your pen, please?.

  Teaching sequence

  1. Start with a clear contrast between two forms or meanings.
  2. Give short controlled examples with familiar vocabulary.
  3. Include one item that targets a common mistake.
  4. Add mixed review items that distinguish this point from a neighbouring lesson.
  5. End with simple sentence-level production or recognition.

  Boundary: what not to cover here

  Keep this practical and functional. Do not add advanced modal nuance or remote modality here.

  Suggested practice

  For the current exercise system, use 25 multiple-choice exercises. Include clear distractors that test the target grammar, not obscure vocabulary. Later, this lesson can be expanded with gap-fill, error-correction or transformation tasks.

Quick check

Before you move on, can you explain the rule in one sentence and make one example of your own?