May and Might

One of the most common things used in English are modal verbs (will, can, could, shall, may, might, should, would.) They make verbs more meaningful. Modal verbs are commonly known as helping verbs or auxiliary verbs.

After modal verbs (auxiliary verbs), the root form of the verb is used.  There is an exception in modal verbs that you cannot use 'to' after modal verbs.  To is only used with 'ought,' which is also considered as a helping verb.  Modal verbs usually express ability, possibility, permission, or obligation.

In this lesson, we are going to learn two modal verbs, may and might. Most people think that may and might are interchangeable, but that's not always the case.  I will cover May and Might's usage and the difference between them so that you never mix them up again.

Common Uses of May and Might

May and might almost have the same usage, but they are not interchangeable. There are two common uses of May and Might with a little difference among them.

Possibility

The very first use of May and Might is expressing the possibility or chances of occurrence of something. 

May is used to express the possibility of something to happen in the near future. It shows what is authentic or could be genuine.

Example:

• You may win this game.
• I may eat ice cream after dinner. 
• Ali may come.
• She may pass the test.
• It may rain today. ( maybe 50% probability.)

Might is used to express the rare possibility of something to happen in the present or future. It represents situations that are hypothetical and do not happen very often. Might shows less possibility than may. 

Example:

• If you hadn’t been late, you might have kept your job. 
• If I pass the test, my dad might gift me the Ferrari. 
• I might get late today for class. 
• It might rain today. ( maybe 30% probability.)
• He might leave tomorrow for London. 

A quick and straightforward way to remember the difference between May and Might is that; the modal verb May shows more probability than might. 

Permission 

The second and most frequent use of May and Might is that they can be used to ask for permission. While asking for permissions, May is commonly used than Might. But you can use both. Might is more polite than May.

Example:

• You may sit here. 
• May I come in?
• You may leave the class now. 
• They may do it.
• You may not sit next to me.
• May I use your pen?
• You might not use my pen. 
• Might I ask you about your relationship status?

While asking for permissions, May is commonly used than Might. But you can use both. In some cases may and might are not interchangeable. For example, if you ask your parents:

• May I go to the concert?

So when you tell your friends about this, you might say, “ I may not go to the concert.” But when you say this, it sounds like you do not have permission to go to the concert, and you wanted to say, “ you might not go to the concert.” To avoid such ambiguity, you should not use may not in negative sentences and use might.

• I might not go to the concert.

Distinct uses of May and Might Wish

May is also used to express wishes and hopes. You cannot use might to express wish.

Example:

• May you never fail in your life.
• May you always succeed in your life.
• May you both live happily hereafter.

Suggestion:

The distinct use of “might” is to offer suggestions to someone about something. This is less common in American English. We use words like want, prefer or like along Might when offering advice or suggestion.

Example:

• You might like this dress.
• You might prefer this book.
• You might visit the Eiffel tower in Paris.
• You might try this dessert.

Might is the Past Tense of May

The grammatical distinction between May and Might is that 'Might' is the past tense of 'May.' If your sentence is in the past tense, you should use Might. If you remember this fact, you can easily choose the appropriate modal verb in confusing situations.

Example:

• She might have visited yesterday, but I was not home. ( past tense)
• I may sleep earlier tonight. ( present tense).

Question and negative 

You can make questions with ‘may’ and ‘might’ without using ‘do/does/did.’ And you can make negative statements using may not or might not. But, be careful you can not use -s in the third person.

Example:

• May I leave? (correct)
• Do may I leave? (incorrect)
• Might I offer you the tea?

Negative : 

• He might not do it.
• He might not understand me.

Conclusion:

You need to remember that 'Might' is the past tense of 'May.' Might has less probability and is used with remotely possible situations. May carries with it higher probability. It is best to use 'Might' in negatives in a permissive way than 'May.'