Word.ws English Dictionary

if I may

/ɪf aɪ meɪ/

if I may phrase: without any following verb, implies a request to interrupt, to speak at length, or to take control, often when the speaker can introduce new, unexpected information or, alternatively, when the speaker disapproves of how a task was done and proposes to redo it.

Phrase

if I may

  1. Without any following verb, implies a request to interrupt, to speak at length, or to take control, often when the speaker can introduce new, unexpected information or, alternatively, when the speaker disapproves of how a task was done and proposes to redo it.

Questions about if I may

What does if I may mean?
If I may means without any following verb, implies a request to interrupt, to speak at length, or to take control, often when the speaker can introduce new, unexpected information or, alternatively, when the speaker disapproves of how a task was done and proposes to redo it.
What part of speech is if I may?
If I may is a phrase.
How do you pronounce if I may?
If I may is pronounced /ɪf aɪ meɪ/.

Words near if I may in the dictionary

  1. if I do say so myself
  2. if I ever saw one
  3. if I fits, I sits
  4. if I had a nickel for every time
  5. if I had wheels, I'd be a wagon
  6. if I may
  7. if I may be so bold
  8. if I may make so bold
  9. if I may say so
  10. if I might be so bold
  11. if I say so myself

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: if I may (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “if I may.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/if_i_may. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.