"Of course, in English the term "may" is semantically overloaded with a "will they/won't they" sort of question, so it's still unclear depending on how you pars

"Of course, in English the term "may" is semantically overloaded with a "will they/won't they" sort of question, so it's still unclear depending on how you parse it. But it's unclear for a different reason!" Actually that's the original meaning of "may" in english, similar, and derived from the same root, to the modal verb mögen in German, expressing a possibility of something happening. In other words: - Can (können) = to really be able to - May (mögen) = expresses the possibility, but not the permission - ??? (dürfen) = to be authorized to The past of "may" is "might", which helps understand it.