Point 213 in MODALITY is defined as:
‘may’ in a subordinate clause expressing concession with ‘however’, ‘whatever’, ‘whoever’ + ‘it or this may be or seem
Our examples:
All you’ve got to go on is streams of electrical impulses, which are only indirectly related to things in the world, whatever they may be.
Compromises can be struck, however difficult it yet may be.
A search in iWeb for:
however _JJ it|this may_V be|seem
1 HOWEVER SMALL IT MAY BE 81
2 HOWEVER DIFFICULT IT MAY BE 66
3 HOWEVER TEMPTING IT MAY BE 63
4 HOWEVER GREAT IT MAY BE 23
5 HOWEVER PAINFUL IT MAY BE 21
6 HOWEVER BRIEF IT MAY BE 19
7 HOWEVER GOOD IT MAY BE 16
8 HOWEVER IMPORTANT IT MAY BE 15
9 HOWEVER LARGE IT MAY BE 14
10 HOWEVER NECESSARY IT MAY BE 13
11 HOWEVER SMALL IT MAY SEEM 13
12 HOWEVER TRUE IT MAY BE 12
13 HOWEVER IMPERFECT IT MAY BE 12
14 HOWEVER STRANGE IT MAY SEEM 11
15 HOWEVER UNLIKELY IT MAY SEEM 10
whatever|whoever it|this may_V be|seem
1 WHATEVER IT MAY BE 3781
2 WHOEVER IT MAY BE 198
3 WHATEVER THIS MAY BE 27