‘MAY’ is more common than ‘MIGHT’ and the contracted MIGHTN’T is very rare in this structure.
Here are the most common verbs found in this grammar structure with examples:
- You MIGHT NOT HAVE KNOWN about the party.
- She MAY NOT HAVE THOUGHT you were serious.
- They MIGHTN’T HAVE HEARD that you were coming.
The negative past modal meaning expressed here is of possibility. Listen to expert examples of speculating about the past with the modal verb ‘may’:
Falcone may not have killed your parents, Bruce, but he‘s destroying everything that they stood for.
Those things may not have bothered you guys, but for someone with autism, they can be quite overwhelming.
Here’s a student example from PELIC:
If I had been more careful, I might not have lost it.
Japanese Female level 5 grammar class
We have joined two different points for this post since there is little to no difference between:
- may not have PP
- might not have PP
A search in iWeb for:
might _XX have _VVN
1 MIGHT NOT HAVE KNOWN 1208
2 MIGHT NOT HAVE THOUGHT 1156
3 MIGHT NOT HAVE HEARD 1113
4 MIGHT NOT HAVE CONSIDERED 768
5 MIGHT NOT HAVE SEEN 731
6 MIGHT NOT HAVE NOTICED 692
7 MIGHT NOT HAVE MADE 511
8 MIGHT NOT HAVE HAPPENED
452
It was said, when you were ill, that if you had led a normal life, this might not have happened.
9 MIGHT NOT HAVE GOTTEN 373
10 MIGHT NOT HAVE COME 304
11 MIGHT NOT HAVE REALIZED 301
12 MIGHT NOT HAVE GONE 292
13 MIGHT NOT HAVE FOUND 246
14 MIGHT NOT HAVE EXPECTED 237
15 MIGHT NOT HAVE TAKEN 225
16 MIGHT NOT HAVE WON 174
17 MIGHT NOT HAVE WORKED 170
18 MIGHT NOT HAVE TRIED 167
19 MIGHT NOT HAVE OCCURRED 160
And, what might not have occurred to you is, what are the logistics really like of working on another planet.
20 MIGHT NOT HAVE WANTED 156
21 MIGHT NOT HAVE GOT 154
22 MIGHT NOT HAVE SURVIVED 137
Because of the way that prevailing economics work mostly against them, they might not have survived on the land without it.
23 MIGHT NOT HAVE FELT 129
24 MIGHT NOT HAVE GIVEN 122
25 MIGHT NOT HAVE LOOKED 120
26 MIGHT NOT HAVE SEEMED 110
27 MIGHT NOT HAVE UNDERSTOOD 108
28 MIGHT NOT HAVE LIKED 104
29 MIGHT NOT HAVE RECEIVED 101
30 MIGHT NOT HAVE USED 100
31 MIGHT NOT HAVE PLAYED 100
32 MIGHT NOT HAVE EXISTED 95
33 MIGHT NOT HAVE REALISED 94
34 MIGHT NOT HAVE MET 93
35 MIGHT NOT HAVE CHANGED 91
B2 vocabulary: occurred, survived
1 MAY NOT HAVE HEARD 2976
2 MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN 2345
3 MAY NOT HAVE CONSIDERED 1828
4 MAY NOT HAVE THOUGHT 1739
5 MAY NOT HAVE SEEN 1727
6 MAY NOT HAVE NOTICED 1275
7 MAY NOT HAVE MADE 967
8 MAY NOT HAVE REALIZED 812
You may not have realized this, but I am one of your biggest fans.
9 MAY NOT HAVE GOTTEN 665
10 MAY NOT HAVE COME 600
11 MAY NOT HAVE RECEIVED 590
12 MAY NOT HAVE HAPPENED 564
13 MAY NOT HAVE TAKEN 500
14 MAY NOT HAVE WON 460
15 MAY NOT HAVE GONE 452
16 MAY NOT HAVE FOUND 435
17 MAY NOT HAVE WORKED 422
18 MAY NOT HAVE CHANGED 376
19 MAY NOT HAVE GIVEN 339
20 MAY NOT HAVE WANTED 322
21 MAY NOT HAVE USED 306
22 MAY NOT HAVE UNDERSTOOD 306
23 MAY NOT HAVE REACHED 299
24 MAY NOT HAVE TRIED 292
25 MAY NOT HAVE REALISED 284
26 MAY NOT HAVE MET 283
27 MAY NOT HAVE READ 277
28 MAY NOT HAVE OCCURRED 274
29 MAY NOT HAVE LIKED 256
30 MAY NOT HAVE PLAYED 254
B1:
considered, noticed, reached, realized