Can I leave this food?
Imagine a girl who does not want to go on eating a part of her food. What would she ask me? Is "can I leave this food" correct?.
In Spanish, it would be "¿puedo dejar esta comida?". But, in English I am not sure.
Thank you beforehand.
22 Answers
No one would say "May I leave this food" or "Can I leave this food". We would just say "I can't eat anymore". or "Is it OK if I don't eat anymore of this food?". The word "leave" does not convey the proper meaning here. "Do I have to eat this? I'm not hungry anymore." Something like that.
I have to agree with martinj, and disagree with those who say, "no one would say it that way." Yes, they would!
"May I leave this food?" might not be the most commonly said thing at the dinner table, but I assure you that if I, jeezle, Heidita, and all the rest of us were at Nila's home for dinner and a child asked, "May I leave this food?"---
1- the child would have said a perfectly well constructed English sentence.
2- everyone at the table would have known exactly what the child meant.
3- not a single soul present would have corrected the child, for it would be unreasonable to do so.
When I was in elementary school, we had to eat every last bit of everything given to us for lunch before we could go outside and play in the recess that immediately followed our lunch time. The rule given to us was that we were not allowed to "leave food on our tray," and much conversation surrounded my childhood lunches about leaving food in that context.
Here are some Google references on that: Google
I find "May I leave this (food)? quite reasonable.
Alternatives such as "May I be excused?" are not always workable. Perhaps the child wishes not to finish the appetizer or the soup course while the fish, game, cheese and fruit and dessert courses have not even been served yet.
Back in the 1950s, children asked: "May I please be excused from the table." Today, children say "Can I go now?" or "Do I have to finish this?"or "Do I have to eat this?"
Usually, but not always, the child will precede this request with one of the following handy phrases (or something similar):
- I'm full.
- I'm not hungry any more.
- I don't want any more.
- I can't eat any more.
- My stomach hurts.
- This is yucky.
- I hate spinach.
For example: I'm full. Can I go now?
I agree with Jeezle. We also say in Spanish ,
No puedo más, ¿tengo que comerlo todo?
To me, may I leave this food, sounds like you want to leave the food somewhere in a charity or something.
In English: May I please leave this? I don't care very much for this. Is it o.k. if I leave it? I can't eat any more is acceptable.
In Spanish: No puedo mass. Puueado dejar lo?
Al depends on a situation (formal or informal settings).
Imagine a girl who does not want to go on eating a part of her food. What would she ask me? Is "can I leave this food" correct?
I think that grammatically the phrase is correct, but it does not convey the meaning you are looking for. It makes me think the girl is asking about where the food is located. "Can I leave this food here?" or "Can I leave this food on the counter?"
To make clear that she wants to get away from the food, she would have to add: "Can I leave this food behind?" But if she is simply asking about not eating part of her food, this would be an odd way to ask it.
I would go with Jeezzle's suggestions.
May I leave this food? would be the correct question. You know the difference between can and may?
If you don't finish what was on your plate, the uneaten portion is referred to as "leftovers" and this has nothing to do with left/right but rather "what you decided to leave (uneaten)". The term "leavings" also survives (although it's not very common anymore).
Of course, in polite society one finishes what one is served (barring, perhaps, sudden illness). It is the individual's responsibility to request a smaller portion (or the omission of some particularly objectionable ingredient) before it is actually served.
Imagine a girl who does not want to go on eating a part of her food. What would she ask me? Is "can I leave this food" correct?.
In English the girl would not normally say anything about the food, but rather declare something about herself: :"I'm full"
"May" is rarely used in modern spoken English.
OK, you guys that keep on insisting that this isn't said in English are hysterical, given the fact that several of us say we grew up saying it that way.
Martin is in Britain.
I grew up in Indiana, USA.
And we both grew up saying it. I think that fact alone should be a clue that this is, in fact, an expression used in the English language by more than a few people. (Though clearly not everyone has heard it.) 
I have eaten everything on my plate except for one pea. I hope you don't get offended, but this pea had a worm inside it. May I leave it on the plate please?
Why not Heidita? I hear that sentence from my girl almost everyday... "Estoy llena, no doy más... ¿puedo dejarlo? (what is left on her plate)
The question is: do kids say something like this in English?
(maybe it depends on countries and regions like so many other things)
In Spanish, "¿puedo dejar esta comida?" is an option. At least, where I live.
And, "no dejes nada en el plato" is a typical sentence that I can still remember from my parents. And, "no vayas a dejar el pimiento".
And my answer used to be this: why not?.
"May I leave this food?" might not be the most commonly said thing at the dinner table, but I assure you that if I, jeezle, Heidita, and all the rest of us were at Nila's home for dinner and a child asked, "May I leave this food?"---
1- the child would have said a perfectly well constructed English sentence.
2- everyone at the table would have known exactly what the child meant.
3- not a single soul present would have corrected the child, for it would be unreasonable to do so.
Muy pragmatico, Greg;9
I did not say it sounded incorrect, or that this could not be said. I did agree with Jeez at this moment the only one who had commented on this sentence. I still do, it sounds like she is leaving it somewhere in a place behind...
Funny how one can always see how natives disagree
We have so far,
persons who think anybody would think this a good way to express herself: 3
and people who think this would not be the way to say it: 8
So far, I agree with the mayority, I think the sentence is perfectly correct, but one would not hear this from a child.
