{"id":1565,"date":"2012-07-04T08:43:44","date_gmt":"2012-07-04T12:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/?p=1565"},"modified":"2012-07-04T08:43:44","modified_gmt":"2012-07-04T12:43:44","slug":"may-might-and-can","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/may-might-and-can\/","title":{"rendered":"May, Might and Can"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>May and might<\/strong><\/em> \u2013 who knew that two words could create so much confusion when it comes to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.transparent.com\/learn-english\/\" target=\"_blank\">learning the English language<\/a>. Yet, these two words do just that.<\/p>\n<p>So what is the difference between <strong>may<\/strong> and <strong>might<\/strong>? Well, not too much actually.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>may<\/strong> = suggests that it is possible that the action will occur<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>might<\/strong> = that there is an even smaller possibility that the action will happen<\/p>\n<p>Here are some example sentences:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I <strong>may<\/strong> go swimming today. &#8211;&gt; it is <strong>quite possible<\/strong> that I will go swimming<\/li>\n<li>I <strong>might<\/strong> go swimming today. &#8211;&gt; it is probably<strong> pretty unlikely<\/strong> that I will go swimming<\/li>\n<li>I <strong>may<\/strong> go bungee jumping when I am on holiday. = it is <strong>quite possible<\/strong> that I will go bungee jumping<\/li>\n<li>I <strong>might<\/strong> go bungee jumping when I am on holiday. = it is probably <strong>pretty unlikely<\/strong> that I will go bungee jumping<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The difference between the two words is very subtle and typically there isn\u2019t too much attention put on when you use one instead of the other. However, that changes if we are using the past tense. <strong>Might<\/strong> is the past tense of <strong>may<\/strong>, so you should use <strong>might<\/strong> when using the past tense (although not everyone does!).<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>She <strong>might<\/strong> have forgotten to buy bread.<\/li>\n<li>He <strong>might<\/strong> have left a message with reception while we were out.<\/li>\n<li>I <strong>might<\/strong> have forgotten to close the\u00a0refrigerator\u00a0door before we left!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong>Can and May<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Another version of the <strong>may\/might<\/strong> confusion is <strong>may<\/strong> and <strong>can<\/strong>. These two words tend to be the bane of a child\u2019s life because almost everyone has been corrected by a teacher or a parent when they used the wrong one.<\/p>\n<p><strong>may<\/strong> = indicates permission \u2013-&gt; <strong>May<\/strong> I have a slice of apple pie? <em>(is it allowed for me to eat one)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>can<\/strong> = indicates ability \u2013-&gt;I <strong>can<\/strong> eat six apple pies in a row without throwing up. <em>(I have the physical ability to eat six pies in a row)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>If you can remember this dialogue, then you are probably going to remember when to use can and when to use may:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Question from Teenager:<\/strong> <strong>Can<\/strong> I paint my room black and white?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Answer from Parent:<\/strong> I\u2019m sure you <strong>can<\/strong>, but you <strong>may<\/strong> not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>May and might \u2013 who knew that two words could create so much confusion when it comes to learning the English language. Yet, these two words do just that. So what is the difference between may and might? Well, not too much actually. may = suggests that it is possible that the action will occur&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/may-might-and-can\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[134956,135139,135370],"tags":[218824,930,6027,218823,218825],"class_list":["post-1565","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-english-grammar","category-english-language","category-english-vocabulary","tag-can","tag-english","tag-may","tag-might","tag-tricky-words"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 5.0.0.1 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When do you use may, might or can? 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