Tag: intention

I was sitting on a crowded bus making its way through the busy streets of Paris when a seat opened up next to a gentleman holding onto a large suitcase. I slid into the seat just as an older woman in her late seventies, dressed to the nines, got on the bus. She made a beeline for us and said “Je peux m’asseoir?” (I can sit down?) her energy intimated this was not a request. On the off chance that I missed that, I noted that her voice did not indicate an interrogative by rising at the end, but rather a declarative statement. Thirdly, her word choice of can instead of may indicated she was not asking permission.