Modal verbs MAY and MIGHT: EVERYTHING you need to know

today you're going to learn all about may and might modal verbs that you need to use all the time but you're probably afraid to do so if you're saying sentences like maybe I go maybe I see a friend tonight or it is possible I will be late then you're saying it wrongly native English speakers are unlikely to use those phrases instead use may and might and today I'll show you how these are great words that you can use in many different situations to talk about possibility to speculate about the past to refuse offers and to mildly criticize someone you're going to learn a lot so stay where you are [Music] to let them talk the channel that goes deeper into everything about the English language and today we're going to look at may and might and in this video we're going to look at these words just in the present for the past might have and may have as well as should have would have must have and could have there is another video on this subject coming soon so look out for that and the first question that everybody asked is what's the difference between May and might well the simple answer is when we are talking about possibility because remember the modal verbs can have different meanings but when we are talking about possibility not much may has a slightly higher level of possibility make 70 percent might fifty percent though in reality it's not quite like that so really don't worry too much about that okay also might is more common in questions let's have a look [Music] so both may and might can be used to talk about possibility let's have a look at some examples using the present tense look at this sentence where's John he's in the pub but you can change the verb to be is in the sentence to may or might if you're not sure he might be in the pub okay so getting to the habit of saying he might be in the pub rather than maybe he is in the pub so let's look at some more examples this tea is poisoned this tea may be poisoned she might be the most beautiful girl I've ever seen she may also be the most brilliant person I ever met now you can also use may and might with a continuous tense to talk about the possibility that something is happening now the possibility that something is happening now why is he shouting into the phone he might be having an argument with his girlfriend so just substitute is or are in a present continuous with might be don't call him now it's almost midnight she is sleeping she is sleeping or you could say she might be sleeping if you're not sure she might be sleeping she might be sleeping you got it the sentence I will be a little late now in the sentence with will we are talking about a certainty my train is cancelled I will be late but if you want to say maybe yes maybe no then just change will for might I might be a little late I might be a little late simple huh you can also use may I may be a little late so I'm sure you've studied using the future in English you can use will and going to etc but there is no future tense in English we don't have any future verbs however there are different ways of expressing the future and may and might are two of them to talk about possibility in the future okay so let's have a look at some examples I might go to India this summer I may have to work tomorrow okay I may have to work tomorrow so may and might our future census - you didn't know that did you [Music] now what about the negative usually for modal verbs we can contract the negative okay so for example can becomes can't could it becomes couldn't wouldn't maitain does that exist yes but it's extremely rare might not is preferred now if you want to say Martin I'm not going to stop you I'm not going to correct you but be aware that it's extremely rare and you should probably be using might not okay may and by the way is not even a word any mites it's absolute so use may not okay I may not go out tonight I might not watch the game because I'm too tired and the same way we can use might with the present continuous with future meaning I'm flying to Kiev on Wednesday that's a certainty I've got the ticket I might be flying to Kyiv on Wednesday here we are talking about the possibility of a future appointment okay the possibility of a future appointment so we use might be + verb + ing another example I may be seen Claire tonight we had a fight and we might not be getting married next year motor verbs can be made into questions can I have pizza should I bring something to the party we wait for me but with May and might it's different okay yes you can use May and Mike for questions but only when we are asking for permission remember motor verbs can have different meanings so for example might I ask question may I open the window that's correct but this is not what we are talking about today no today we are talking about May and Mike for possibility okay and in these cases we cannot begin a question with may or might so how do we make questions with May and Mike the possibility it's simple just use do you think you might or do you think you may the my version is much more common by the way so I recommend you use that ok for example do you think she might go out with me if I asked her do you think you might be free tomorrow night do you think John might have the answer so we use do you think you might to indicate the listener that there is an uncertainty about the answer ok so for example I'm sure he's wrong about this do you think he might change his mind okay so I'm indicating an uncertainty about the response so we use may and might do you think you made mine now British people like to speak indirectly sometimes we don't like to say no directly to people it sounds a little rude there is a more polite way with might or I'm afraid I might or I'm afraid I might not so for example do you want to come dancing with me on Saturday night I'm afraid I might not be free okay would you like to come up and see my stamp collection I'm afraid I might have to go I've got an early appointment tomorrow morning much gentler isn't it sometimes we want to criticize people or tell them to do something but we don't want to sound rude or bossy okay so here we can use a sentence with you might want to you might want to okay you should study tonight and not go to the pub now that sounds bossy doesn't it so let's try the sentence again with you might want to you know you might want to study tonight instead of going to the pub you've got an exam tomorrow sounds better doesn't it she's angry because you were very rude you might want to call her and apologize you've been complaining about your boss for years you might want to get another job your computer is far too slow for this type of software you might want to buy a faster one okay so there you are I hope you found that useful and if you have something to say you might want to leave a comment thank you for watching stay mellow and I'll see you in the next video [Music] [Music]

Channel: LetThemTalkTV

Views: 37,462

Keywords: yt:cc=on, might, may, modals, modal verbs, auxiliary verbs, English grammar, learn English, Gideon, English teacher, cours d'anglais, British pronunciation, Letthemtalktv

Id: r7brXdy15Lc

Length: 11min 21sec (681 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 15 2018