But that’s nothing compared to learning how to use a word like mag, the singular of mogen, which can mean “may”, “should”, “can” or simply “is”, and is pronounced as a Scotsman would say “mach”. Modal verbs is what the grammarians call them – those words that add the idea of obligation, speculation or permission to a normal verb. You might be tricked into thinking that mogen with its singular form mag is simply the same as “may”. If only things were so simple.

First, mag can happily stand alone: ik mag hem wel – I quite like him; alles mag vandaag de dag – anything goes these days, and dat mag niet – that’s not allowed. You can ask for permission: mag hij blijven spelen? – can he stay and play? If you go straight from English to kan hij blijven spelen? you’re asking if it’s possible, not if he’s allowed. The same applies to je mag het gerust eens proberen – you can give it a try. Though it does match up in the rather formal “may I have your name?” – Mag ik uw naam?

With some constructions, you have to turn everything on its head: van mij mag het (“from me it may”) – it’s all right by me, or ik mag niet van de dokter – the doctor says I mustn’t. So in the negative it equates to must not: ik mag niet klagen – I mustn’t complain. But then with other phrases, it seems to mean should: hij mag blij zijn – he should be happy, or je mag wel uitkijken – you should be careful.

Still other phrases are more idiomatic. It can mean “to like”: ik mag graag een whisky drinken – I enjoy a whisky. If you want to buy someone a drink, you would say wat mag het zijn – what are you having, and you might hear a shopkeeper ask you the same to mean “can I help you”.

Getting to grips with modal verbs is perhaps best done by treating each of these phrases as an idiom. In other words, that’s the way it is, and there’s no good reason for it. Trust the good old parrot fashion, and before long you’ll be buying rounds of drinks for your friends.