Grammar Glamour

I wish I may, I wish I might

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Hello and welcome to Grammar Glamour. Today we’ll be discussing the differences between may and might. I may go to the park. I might go to the park. Do they mean the same thing? Are these two words interchangeable or are there significant differences between them? I’ll be addressing these issues during this Grammar Glamour podcast.

The differences are subtle, which is why people tend to have problems differentiating between the two. While both words concern themselves with possibility, something that may happen is more likely than something that might happen.

For example, you would say “I may go to the park if my friends go,” but, “I might go to the park if you pay me.” The second sentence has a sarcastic tone to it, which means it is unlikely that you actually intend to go to the park.

Something is more promising if it may happen. If you were to say, “I may get a promotion” it is more likely that you will get a promotion than if you were to say, “I might get a promotion.”

People often get confused with may because it can signify not only possibility, but also permission. For this reason, it makes more sense to say “We might not go to the park later” because saying, “We may not go to the park later” could sound like you are not allowed to go to the park.

It is also important to know that both may and might are modals. There is some argument in the grammar world about whether or not modals have tenses. Some say that might is the past tense of may. Others argue that modals have no tense at all. There is still another argument that, while both can be used in the present and past tense, if there is another verb in the sentence that is in the past tense, then you should only use might. For example, you could say “She may have failed the test” or “She might have failed the test,” depending on the degree of possibility. But, regardless of the possibility, you would say, “She thought she might have failed the test.” This is because “thought” is in the past tense.

There is another case when may and might have very different meanings. “The medicine may have healed her” means that she was healed and it could be because of the medicine. “The medicine might have healed her,” means that she was not healed but could have been if medicine had been used.

That’s all I have for you today! Thank you for listening to Grammar Glamour!

By: Chelsea Moir

Sources:

Grammar Girl website

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/may-might.aspx

O’Connor, Patricia T. Woe Is I. Riverhead Books, NY. 1996. pg. 61