May v. Must

 

A reader asked the following question of To The Point:   “What is the legal difference between may, should, and would and how does it differ in general use in the English language?”

Good question!  Grammatically, the word “may” indicates (1) a possibility or (2) a requesting or granting of permission.  See American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 808 (1973).  For example:

• He may come to the party.

The above sentence could mean either: 

• He might come to the party.
                         or
• I give him permission to come to the party.

From a legal perspective, however, many courts have construed the word “may” to mean “must” or “shall,” especially when such an interpretation is necessary to effectuate legislative intent.  See the definition of “may” in Black’s Law Dictionary 819 (8th ed. 2005). In other words, the courts view the word as ambiguous and apply a definition in cases dealing with statutes that is consistent with the legislative intent of the statutes. 
 
Because the word “may” is ambiguous, avoid using it when you mean “must.”  Similarly, avoid using the word “may” when expressing a conditional state because it does have different meanings in ordinary, non-legal usage (as explained above).  For example, rather than write the following ambiguous sentence:

• The plaintiff may seek summary judgment.

You could be more explicit with one of the following sentences:

• The court’s rules permit the plaintiff to seek summary judgment.
• The plaintiff is considering seeking summary judgment.

Stay tuned for a discussion of “should” and “would.”  Have a question? Email us at contact@tothepointpubs.com.

anyone v. any one

 

A colleague drafting a trust posited the following question: “What is the difference between anyone and any one?”  For example:

• I or anyone else, other than the Beneficiary, a parent of the Beneficiary, or any person serving as the Trustee, may transfer property to the Trustee.

Should the trust read anyone or any one?  Answer: anyone.  Why?  Because anyone means anybody; any one means any one of a specified group.  Dictionary.com’s definition of anyone includes a usage note to differentiate anyone from any one:

Anyone: any person at all; anybody

Usage: as a pronoun meaning “anybody” or “any person at all” is written as one word: Does anyone have the correct time?  The two-word phrase any one means “any single member of a group of persons or things” and is often followed by of: Can any one of the members type?  Any one of these books is exciting reading.  Anyone is somewhat more formal than anybody. 

See Dictionary.com, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/anyone.

***Memory trick: Think of any one as usually being followed by of (any one of you, any one of the team).

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Does the Period Go Inside or Outside the Final Quotation Mark?

 

Place periods and commas inside the final quotation mark.  For example:

            Wrong:   He said, “Mary went to court”.

            Correct:  He said, “Mary went to court.”

But, what about semicolons, questions marks, and exclamation points?  Punctuation other than periods and commas can vary in whether it goes inside or outside the final quotation mark.  Placement depends on whether the punctuation is part of the original text, as follows:

            Wrong:    The taxpayer questioned, “What is the FBAR”?

            Wrong:    The taxpayer questioned, “What is the FBAR?”.

            Correct:   The taxpayer questioned, “What is the FBAR?”

Why is the second example wrong?  It’s wrong because the period goes inside the quotation mark.  However, if you move the period inside the final quotation mark, it then directly follows the question mark creating double punctuation, (“What is the FBAR?.”). 

See Rule 5.1(b)(iv) of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation 69 (18th ed. 2005).

Take the Preposition Quiz!

 

Take a page of your writing, grab a pen or a pencil, and circle the prepositions.  What is a preposition?

Preposition:      A word that combines with a noun or pronoun to form a phrase (e.g., of, in, on, for, about, to, by, with, over, between, onto, regarding, through, during).  See The Merriam-Webster Dictionary 411 (Merriam-Webster 1998).

Prepositions are easy to find, as they are usually small words in long sentences.  If you need a sample, click here.

* * * * * * *

Grading Your Quiz

What does your page look like?  If you see a sea of circles (i.e., 3 or more prepositions per sentence), you likely are breaking several writing style principles.  Prepositions are enablers.  Writers use prepositions to break several writing style principles, including:

Avoiding Nominalizations: verbs in noun form (e.g., documentation of v. to document);

Avoiding Complex Prepositions: phrases that begin and end with a preposition (e.g., for purposes of v. regarding or for); and

Avoiding Unnecessary Prepositional Phrases: prepositional phrases that could be single-word or double-word adjectives (e.g., accounts of foreign banks v. foreign bank accounts).

Tax accountants and attorneys are some of the worst offenders, given the antiquated statutory and regulatory language as subject matters (e.g., Title 26 of the U.S. Code). 

Limiting prepositions can improve your writing.  For more information, see To The Point.  To The Point has five issues that complement this quiz, including Issue 5 on the over-use of simple prepositions.