may | might (modal verbs)

In the context of the sentence “What may mean nothing to you, may be very important to me,” the word “may” is used as a modal verb to express possibility.  The sentence is not referring to a specific time frame, but rather to a general situation where different people can have different opinions about the same thing.

In the sentence “Now, I can’t be responsible for what might happen,” the word “might” is also used as a modal verb to express possibility.

Although the use of the word “now” suggests that the speaker is referring to the present moment, the sentence implies that the speaker is aware of a situation that could potentially lead to something happening in the very near future (soon), but they cannot control the outcome.

‘May’ and ‘Might’ can usually be swapped when it comes to weak possibility.  However,  “May” tends to express a higher degree of possibility and is often used more with facts than ‘might’ which leans more to hypothetical situations.


Profiling Research

In the English Grammar Profile, A2 points 34 and 48 in the category of MODALITY are defined as:

may‘ to talk about weak possibility referring to the present and the future affirmative

A2 point 47:

‘might’ … weak possibility.

*Note that it is difficult to formally distinguish ‘weak possibility’ from other uses of these modal verbs, such as ‘permission’ or ‘polite suggestions’.


Here are the most common lexical verbs in iWeb corpus found with a search for:

may_VM _VVI

1 MAY NEED 294017

2 MAY WANT 253501
3 MAY TAKE 159078

4 MAY INCLUDE 156112

Hannah’s friends, whose needs may include personal or professional problems,

depend on her often for her knowledge, understanding and skills.

PELIC writing class, level 4, grammar class

5 MAY FIND 156070
6 MAY SEEM 148207
7 MAY HELP 129726
8 MAY CAUSE 114433
9 MAY REQUIRE 113748
10 MAY USE 111149
11 MAY MAKE 91763
12 MAY VARY 84699
13 MAY RESULT 83804
14 MAY APPLY 76754
15 MAY GET 75179
16 MAY FEEL 68586
17 MAY COME 67062
18 MAY BECOME 65934

You may become major strawberry picker.

listen

19 MAY OCCUR 64684
20 MAY CHOOSE 64198
21 MAY LEAD 61644
22 MAY CHANGE 61595
23 MAY SEE 56160
24 MAY SOUND 55460

It may sound a bit silly.

TLC student in speaking test: female India B2

25 MAY PROVIDE 54096
26 MAY WISH 53963
27 MAY THINK 53683
28 MAY LOOK 50646
29 MAY CONTAIN 50167
30 MAY APPEAR 45475
31 MAY AFFECT 43138
32 MAY WORK 40482
33 MAY EXPERIENCE 39240

34 MAY RECEIVE 38462 However this following example also contains elements of ‘permission’:

Nowyou may receive mail,

 but only after I have read it.

listen

35 MAY GIVE 38023
36 MAY KNOW 37650
37 MAY ASK 36884
38 MAY GO 36877
39 MAY REQUEST 36199
40 MAY END 34387
41 MAY INCREASE 34137
42 MAY MEAN 31325

What may mean nothing to you ,

may be very important to me.

listen

43 MAY OFFER 30087
44 MAY CONTACT 27365
45 MAY SAY 27347
46 MAY CONSIDER 26255
47 MAY ARISE 25898
48 MAY DIFFER 25767
49 MAY TRY 24414


A2 Vocabulary: add, become, bring, call, collect, contact, decide, enter, explain, fall, happen, hold, include, lose, mean, notice, offer, order, prefer, receive, return, serve, share, sound, try, turn, wish
B1: allow, appear, apply, benefit, charge, consider, contain, continue, create, develop, exist, experience, increase, involve, lead, prevent, produce, prove, provide, recommend, reduce, remain, request, require, result, seem, suggest


1 MIGHT WANT 199222
2 MIGHT NEED 91526
3 MIGHT THINK 81744
4 MIGHT FIND 81105
5 MIGHT GET 79573
6 MIGHT HELP 63222
7 MIGHT SEEM 62314
8 MIGHT MAKE 62220
9 MIGHT TAKE 51757
10 MIGHT SAY 45451
11 MIGHT LOOK 43976
12 MIGHT EXPECT 39002
13 MIGHT WORK 38063
14 MIGHT SEE 36273
15 MIGHT CONSIDER 34221
16 MIGHT LIKE 33366
17 MIGHT TRY 31522 However this following example is a ‘polite’ suggestion:

You might try to remember 

how difficult it is

to get good college presidents these days.

On a clear day you can see forever

18 MIGHT COME 31513

19 MIGHT SOUND 29165

20 MIGHT FEEL 27838
21 MIGHT USE 26540
22 MIGHT GO 25670
23 MIGHT INCLUDE 25486
24 MIGHT GIVE 23299
25 MIGHT HAPPEN 22052

NowI can’t be responsible 

for what might happen.

listen

26 MIGHT MEAN 20952
27 MIGHT ASK 20771
28 MIGHT END 20402
29 MIGHT CAUSE 19739
30 MIGHT ADD 18867
31 MIGHT BECOME 17167
32 MIGHT KNOW 16920
33 MIGHT CHANGE 16567
34 MIGHT LEAD 15944
35 MIGHT CALL 15510
36 MIGHT START 14254
37 MIGHT AFFECT 13397
38 MIGHT REQUIRE 13155
39 MIGHT SUGGEST 11120
40 MIGHT IMAGINE 10949
41 MIGHT APPEAR 10716
42 MIGHT CHOOSE 10457
43 MIGHT ENJOY 9700
44 MIGHT NOTICE 9691
45 MIGHT BRING 9091
46 MIGHT OCCUR 8785
47 MIGHT WONDER 8705
48 MIGHT ARGUE 8605
49 MIGHT TURN 8601
50 MIGHT PUT 8561


EXPERT EXAMPLE:

Where someone from the Philippines may have an excellent command of English grammar,

without the cultural background of living in a first-world country,

some nuances can be hard for them to produce in their language.

recentlyheard.com

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