able vs allowed

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echelon

Junior Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2009
Member Type
Academic
Hello,

Employees may not smoke in this office.

Are both of the following sentences acceptable equivalents of the above sentence?

Employees are not allowed to smoke in this office.
Employees are not able to smoke in this office.


(I know that "can't" can be used instead of "are not able to".)


How about the past tense?

It was forbidden for employees to smoke in this office.

Employees were not allowed to smoke in that office.
Employees were not able to smoke in that office.


Thanks in advance to any native speaker for answering these questions! :)

PS - Great forum!
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
Hello,

Employees may not smoke in this office.

Are both of the following sentences acceptable equivalents of the above sentence?

Employees are not allowed to smoke in this office. Yes.
Employees are not able to smoke in this office. No. The problem with "able to" is that it suggests a physical ability. Anyone is "able to" smoke, if they choose to do so. "May not" is generally accepted to mean a prohibition, nothing to do with ability.


(I know that "can't" can be used instead of "are not able to".)


How about the past tense?

It was forbidden for employees to smoke in this office. Yes.

Employees were not allowed to smoke in that office. Yes.
Employees were not able to smoke in that office. No, same reason.


Thanks in advance to any native speaker for answering these questions! :)

PS - Great forum!

See above.
 

echelon

Junior Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2009
Member Type
Academic
Hello, and thank you for the answer. However, are you really sure of it?

The following sentences should have very similar in meaning.

We cannot smoke here.
We may not smoke here.


Right?

Cannot = to be able to

So why not?

Also, another native speaker of British English said that to be able to can be used instead of to be allowed to in these contexts...
 

bhaisahab

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
Ireland
Hello, and thank you for the answer. However, are you really sure of it?

The following sentences should have very similar in meaning.

We cannot smoke here.
We may not smoke here.


Right?

Cannot = to be able to

So why not?

Also, another native speaker of British English said that to be able to can be used instead of to be allowed to in these contexts...
"Cannot" can mean "not able to" in the right context, but the two terms are not always interchangeable.
 
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