May applies to situations that are possible or could be possible. Might carries with it less probability and applies to hypothetical and counterfactual situations. may separated so you can maintain clarity in your writing. In situations like this, it’s best to use might to avoid any confusion that might arise. When you say this, do you mean “I am not allowed to go to the movies tonight” or do you mean “I might not go to the movies tonight.”? You will want to be clear when you go to tell your friends whether or not your received permission. For example, if you were to ask the question, While both of these words can be used to ask permission, if you’re not careful, they can lead to ambiguity. When asking for permission, may is much more common than might. May and might can also both be used when asking for permission. In the survey, 97 percent of the Usage Panelist found the first sentence to be acceptable while only 32 percent found the second sentence to be acceptable.įar from just a few grammar-loving pedants, the majority of experts view this distinction as necessary, and if you’re writing for any kind of professional audience, you will want to make sure you’re keeping these two words separated. If John Lennon had not been shot, the Beatles may have gotten back together.If John Lennon had not been shot, the Beatles might have gotten back together.AHD provided their panel with the following two sentences, May have should not be used in the past tense.Īccording to the American Heritage Dictionary’s 2012 Usage Panel survey, the vast majority of experts disagree with using might have and may have in the same contexts. Some people claim that you can use might have and may have interchangeably, but this is a bad idea.
For example,Ĭan You Use Might/May Have Interchangeably? In most confusing situations, you can easily make the correct choice by remembering this fact. The second distinction, which is the more important of the two, between these two words is that might is the past tense of may. You could say might is for things that are mighty far-fetched. If something is very far-fetched, you probably want to use might. hypothetical, whereas may deals with situations that are possible or could be factual.Īn easy way to express/remember this difference is that might suggests a lower probability than does may. Right away we notice that might deals with situations that are speculative or did not actually happen, i.e. If I win the lottery, I might buy a Ferrari.If I had shown up on time, I might have kept my job.If you hurry, you might get there on time.Might is used to express what is hypothetical, counterfactual, or remotely possible.
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