May and Might- confusing words in English

so what is the difference between May and might well let's start with their similarities they're both pure modal verbs and both can be used interchangeably in many phrases for example both can be used to ask for permission we can say may I use your phone or might I use your phone however while both are acceptable may is much more common for asking for permission more common still is can or could both may and might are seen as more formal for example can I borrow your phone is less formal than may I borrow your phone secondly they can both be used to speculate about the past present and future for example speculating about the future we can say hmmm it may rain later I'll take an umbrella or hmm it might rain later I'll taken umbrella both they used to show uncertainty in speculation I don't know if it will rain or if it won't I'm uncertain or speculating about the present we can say you might be watching this video from China or you may be watching this video from Russia notice when we use may or might we use the bare infinitive afterwards the bare infinitive is the infinitive without to so for example after this video I might have a cup of tea or after this video I may have a cup of tea but not after this video I might to have a cup of tea this is true for all nine pure modal verbs can could shall should will would may might and must also true of all nine pure modal verbs is that we make the sentences or the phrases negative by adding a not a to the modal verb so for example after this video I might not have a cup of tea another similarity in form that's true of all nine pure modal verbs is that they are not inflected for the third person so you can not never say he must or she might it's always she might or he must so that covers speculating about the present in the future but what about the past when we use may or might to speculate about something that happened in the past again they are interchangeable for example you might have found this video on YouTube or you may have found this video on Instagram this structure is called part modal's of speculation and the correct use can get you high marks and exams such as the Cambridge main suite exams that FCE or the CAE as the first artifical or the Advanced Certificate or even in IELTS exams for more information about how to use the structure in exams have a look at the work she provided in the About section just below looking at the form we use may or might Plus have plus the participle so in this example you may have found this video on YouTube you have may or might Plus have plus the participle which is found now a quick note on pronunciation often when we're speaking we use the weak form of have so for example listen to the way I say have in the sentence you may have found this video on YouTube or you might have found this video on YouTube I'm not saying have I'm saying move might have may have so for example if I'm trying to call a friend and she's not answering the phone I can say hmmm she might have left her phone at home or she may have left her phone at home also if we want to make these sentences negative then we simply add not to the modal verb in this case may or might for example trying to contact a friend of mine I might speculate hmm she might not have charged her phone hmm she may not have charged her phone again notice the weak form have at the end of not she may not have charged her phone again it's not of not not half so that is the similarity between may and might however for some grammarians there is a slight difference in the amount of probability between using may and might might is slightly less likely than may so for example if I say after this video I might have a cup of tea or after the video I may have a cup of tea using might makes it slightly less likely so how else are they different well first of all only may can be used to show prohibition for example children under the age of 18 may not watch this video they are prohibited from watching this video and here we cannot use mind secondly when we use reported speech reporters speech is when we repeat what somebody else has said in reported speech may turns to mine for example this evening I may go climbing Oh Eli said this evening he might go climbing again may transposed to might but might stays the same so if I said this evening I might go climbing someone would report Eli said this evening he might go climbing might doesn't change so that concludes the way mayor might are similar and different here's a little challenge for you notice the fact that this finger is slightly more bent than this finger that's because last year I broke this finger here's a photo of what it looked like sorry about that your challenge is to speculate about what may or might have happened to it for example you can say hmm you might have fallen from a tree or you might have cut it when cooking type your answers in the comment section and I'll tell you when you're right great I hope this video has been of some help remember that this video also comes with a worksheet with exercises for students teaching tips for teachers and activities for teachers to use in the classroom when teaching Mayer might and also how to use Mayer might in exam successfully to boost your marks remember to click Subscribe for future videos worksheets teaching tips and help with exams thanks a lot and goodbye

Channel: English Pro Tips - IELTS Preparation

Views: 4,323

Keywords: English, Englishforfree, FreeEnglish, May, Might, May and Might- confusing words, Confusing words, English Meeting Point, Education, mait, mei, confusin, words, modal verbs, modals, go natural english, may and might, difference between

Id: nJxHnq33Cw0

Length: 7min 29sec (449 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 05 2017