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Take an umbrella in case it may rain. can anybody tell me why this statement was wrong? and the right one is

Take an umbrella in case it rains.

Rahul Ratnakar
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  • I've flagged this for possible migration to [ell.se]. – Chappo Hasn't Forgotten Nov 02 '18 at 05:28
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    Wrong in what way? There's a double 'contingency' (in case + may), but that doesn't make it ungrammatical. Arguably, it says something different from "... in case it rains" or more clearly, "... in case it definitely rains", but if the "in case" part is trying to express a contingency on another contingency, there's nothing wrong with it (it's just unusual when advising people to take umbrellas). If you're talking about idiomatic expressions as opposed to grammatical vs ungrammatical sentences, then use "... in case it rains". – Lawrence Nov 02 '18 at 05:38
  • So … please [edit] your question to clarify the context and intent of the expression, as well as the metric/basis/rule/etc used to judge the sentence 'wrong'. – Lawrence Nov 02 '18 at 05:41
  • @Lawrence The redundancy is what the OP has not seen because of not studying the meanings and usage of in case and may. "Wrong" for a learner could mean grammatical, structural, semantic or even idiomatic error. – Kris Nov 02 '18 at 08:27
  • @Lawrence! I pick this question up from grammar exercise portion. So there is no content around it. – Rahul Ratnakar Nov 03 '18 at 09:15
  • Sometimes a textbook/test author comes up with a sentence to illustrate or highlight an issue but doesn’t realise that the same sentence can be taken a different way. This is sometimes jokingly referred to as a mythical dialect called Exam English. When encountering this in a test, go for whatever you think the examiner was trying to get you to see (you might have to guess). You might like to check out [ell.se] as that community is geared towards language learners. As to how a proficient speaker might classify the original when the context is left to the imagination, it is a matter of opinion. – Lawrence Nov 03 '18 at 11:42

2 Answers2

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Take an umbrella in case it may rain.

It is wrong because - and only because - it goes against common sense.

You need an umbrella only when it rains.
You take an umbrella when it may rain, so that you have an umbrella with you in case it rains.

To suggest you take an umbrella in case it may rain implies that you will need an umbrella when it may rain; and we all know that's not true: you only need it if it actually does rain.

Note that in some circumstances the advice could make perfect sense; for example, if you're traveling abroad and wondering whether to pack an umbrella.

michael.hor257k
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  • Anything that goes against common sense need not be incorrect. But something that is illogical always is. Redundancy is a structural/ compositional error. – Kris Nov 02 '18 at 08:29
  • @Kris "Redundancy is considered a vital feature of language. It shields a message from possible flaws in transmission (unclarity, ambiguity, noise). In this way, it increases the odds of predictability of a message's meaning. On the phonological level, the redundancy of phonological rules may clarify some vagueness in spoken speech; It shields a message from possible flaws in transmission (unclarity, ambiguity, noise). In this way, it increases the odds of predictability of a message's meaning." Pinker, Steven The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language (1994) p. 178 – michael.hor257k Nov 03 '18 at 10:09
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meta: Please look up in case and may in a good dictionary.

Using both in case and may is a redundancy, so the sentence is logically incorrrect.

Kris
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