There is no single word for may in Spanish. For permission, use poder: ¿Puedo entrar? (May I come in?). For possibility, use puede que plus the subjunctive (puede que nieve) or an adverb like quizás, tal vez or a lo mejor. For wishes, use que plus the subjunctive: Que tengas un buen día (May you have a good day).
may = ¿puedo…? (permission) · puede que + subjunctive (possibility)- Ask for permission like a native
- Express possibility (puede que)
- May vs might in Spanish
How do you say may in Spanish? There is no single word for it. For permission, Spanish uses poder: ¿Puedo pasar? (May I come in?). For possibility, it uses puede que + subjunctive, quizás, tal vez or a lo mejor. And for wishes like "may you have a good day," it uses que + subjunctive: Que tengas un buen día.
That is the whole answer in three lines, and it is also why "may" trips up so many of my students: they look for a verb and find a toolkit. In this guide I will give you the exact phrases for each job, the register each one carries, and the mood that follows it, so you can ask for permission like a native and hedge like one too.
The big pictureThe three jobs of "may" — and what Spanish does for each
- Permission — "May I sit here?" → a form of poder, sometimes permitir. ¿Puedo sentarme aquí?
- Possibility — "It may snow tonight." → puede que + subjunctive, or an adverb of doubt. Puede que nieve esta noche.
- Wishes and blessings — "May you be happy." → que + subjunctive. Que seas feliz.
The permission "may" is the one you will need on day one of any trip. The possibility "may" is where the subjunctive enters, and it is the reason this lesson sits at B1. The wish "may" is a bonus, but it is everywhere in daily Spanish — you will hear que te vaya bien at every shop counter.
The formsHow to say "may" for permission, possibility and wishes
1. Permission: ¿Puedo…?, ¿Se puede…?, ¿Me permite…?
English separates "can" (ability) from "may" (permission). Spanish does not: poder covers both, and nobody will think you are rude for using it. What changes the politeness is the form you choose.
| Phrase | Register | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ¿Puedo + infinitive? | Neutral, everyday | ¿Puedo abrir la ventana? — May I open the window? |
| ¿Podría + infinitive? | Polite, formal (usted) | ¿Podría ver la carta? — Could I / may I see the menu? |
| ¿Se puede + infinitive? | Impersonal — "is it allowed?" | ¿Se puede pagar con tarjeta? — Can one pay by card? / Is card accepted? |
| ¿Me permite + infinitive? | Very polite, formal | ¿Me permite pasar? — May I get by? (excuse me) |
| ¿Está permitido + infinitive? | Rules, signs, officials | ¿Está permitido tomar fotos? — Is photography allowed? |
¿Se puede? on its own, said at a doorway, means "May I come in?" — you will hear it constantly in offices and homes across Latin America and Spain.
To grant permission, answer with the same verb or a quick formula: Sí, claro (yes, of course), Adelante (go ahead), Pase (come in, formal), Puedes irte (you may go). To refuse: No se puede (it's not allowed), Lo siento, no está permitido (sorry, it's not permitted), or the sign you will see everywhere, Prohibido fumar.
2. Possibility: puede que, quizás, tal vez, a lo mejor
Here is where students discover that "it may rain" is not puede llover with a subject. The natural phrase is the impersonal puede que + subjunctive, and the subjunctive is not optional.
| Expression | Mood that follows | Example |
|---|---|---|
| puede que | Subjunctive, always | Puede que tengamos que esperar. — We may have to wait. |
| quizás / quizá | Subjunctive (doubt) or indicative (more likely) | Quizás vuelva en abril. — I may come back in April. |
| tal vez | Subjunctive or indicative, same rule | Tal vez sea mejor llamar. — It may be better to call. |
| a lo mejor | Indicative, always | A lo mejor está en la oficina. — He may be at the office. |
| es posible que | Subjunctive, always | Es posible que el vuelo salga tarde. — The flight may leave late. |
Rule of thumb: the more doubt you feel, the more likely the subjunctive. Puede que and es posible que never take the indicative; a lo mejor never takes the subjunctive.
The verb after puede que is in the present subjunctive: puede que llegue, puede que vengan, puede que no haya mesa. If you have not met the subjunctive yet, notice the pattern: -ar verbs take -e endings and -er/-ir verbs take -a endings, the reverse of the present indicative.
3. Wishes: que + subjunctive
"May you…" and "I hope you…" both become que + present subjunctive, with no main verb at all. This is the structure behind the most common goodbyes in Spanish:
- Que tengas un buen día. — May you have a good day. / Have a good day.
- Que te vaya bien. — May it go well for you. / Take care.
- Que descanses. — May you rest. / Sleep well.
- Que se mejore, señora. — May you get better, ma'am. (usted)
- Que aproveche. — Enjoy your meal. (Spain; Latin America says buen provecho)
In real lifeMay in Spanish: examples from travel, work and family
Before you translate "may," ask: am I asking, guessing or wishing? Asking → poder. Guessing → puede que or an adverb. Wishing → que + subjunctive. In four decades I have not found a sentence with "may" that does not fall into one of those three boxes.
From the classroomCommon mistakes English speakers make with "may"
- Looking for a verb that means "may." Students ask me for the infinitive and there isn't one. Poder covers permission, and possibility is a phrase. Trying to force puede to mean "may" in Él puede llegar tarde gives you "he is able to arrive late," not "he may arrive late." Use Puede que llegue tarde.
- Indicative after puede que. Puede que viene is the single most common error in this lesson. The subjunctive is mandatory: Puede que venga.
- Subjunctive after a lo mejor. The opposite mistake. A lo mejor sea tarde sounds wrong to every native; a lo mejor is followed by the indicative: A lo mejor es tarde.
- Thinking "puedo" is impolite for permission. It is not. ¿Puedo usar el baño? is exactly what a native says. Save ¿Podría? and ¿Me permite? for formal situations; using them with friends sounds stiff.
- Translating wishes with a main verb. Espero que tengas un buen día is correct but long. Natives drop the espero and keep the que: Que tengas un buen día. Without que, Tengas un buen día is not a sentence.
Don't mix them upMay vs might in Spanish
In English, "might" is a weaker, more tentative "may": It may snow feels a little more likely than It might snow. Spanish does not have two separate verbs for that gradient — it has the same toolkit for both, and you dial the doubt up or down with the mood and the expression you choose. Puede que nieve, quizás nieve and podría nevar all translate both "may snow" and "might snow."
Where the two do split is permission. "May I?" is ¿Puedo?; "might I?" barely exists in modern English and has no special Spanish form. So if your "may" is asking for permission, you are firmly on this page. If your "may" is a guess, you can express it with any of the possibility phrases above, and the extra shades of doubt — including igual and podría + infinitive — are covered in my guide to might in Spanish.
One last connection: the polite ¿Podría? in the permission table is the conditional of poder, the same form I explain in the lesson on could in Spanish. May, might, could — they all lean on poder, which is why I teach them together in the overview of Spanish modal verbs.
PracticeQuick quiz: may in spanish
Six questions from the lesson. Answer in your head, then open to check.
