English Grammar Lesson: May and Might - How to Correctly Use and Understand Essential English Grammar
Hi everyone! Thanks for joining me for another blog post! Today we will be having a short grammar lesson.
In this short grammar lesson about MAY and MIGHT you will learn how to correctly use and identify possibility with these two important modal verbs. I will give you simple practical explanations about the differences between may and might, will highlight exactly what they both mean, and will show you how to use both of them correctly and confidently.
Click on the video below to watch and learn, and read the transcript underneath to check your understanding and revise today's grammar topic. Also, at the bottom of this post, you'll find a useful summary of the most important points to remember.
I hope that you enjoy this lesson - feel free to get in touch if you have any questions, I'm always happy to help.
:) Nicole
English Grammar Lesson: May and Might - How To Correctly Use & Understand Essential English Grammar
From the Sydney English Teacher Youtube Channel
TRANSCRIPT OF THE ABOVE VIDEO: 'English Grammar Lesson: May and Might - How To Correctly Use & Understand Essential English Grammar'
Hi everyone, its Nicole here again, and I'm here answering another one of your questions, and it's another grammar question.
Today's question is about may and might and what the difference between these is. Really, really good question.
May and might are both talking about possibility, I suppose, but the way that they’re used and the meaning behind them is quite different, as you will see in a minute.
So, let's start with MAY - may is talking about possibility. It's talking about the fact that something is possible. You think it's possible that it will happen. There's a chance that it will happen and it's quite likely.
So, for example, it may rain tonight because the cloud, we have rain clouds, because the clouds are grey. So may there means it's possible that it will rain. There's a chance it will rain. It's likely that it will rain.
Now looking at MIGHT - this is a little bit different. We can't interchange may and might and just swap them over and use them, because, um use them the same because the meaning is different. When it comes to might there is less chance that something will happen. You're speaking about the fact that it's unlikely.
May was that it's likely, there's a chance, whereas might is that it's unlikely. There's a small chance, in your opinion.
So, there's real uncertainty that something will happen. Whereas may - there's a possibility, quite a large possibility, that it will happen. Whereas might - that possibility becomes smaller and smaller. So, there's real uncertainty that it will happen, you believe that there's a small chance that something will happen and it's highly unlikely.
So, you might say ‘there's rain clouds out there, but it might not rain because the weather says that it will be clear’ or you might say something like ‘I may go to the cinema tomorrow, it all depends on what my friends want to do'. ‘Yeah, I might go to the cinema, but I've got an assignment that I need to finish at home. So, I might stay and do that instead.’ Can you see the difference? Higher possibility, less possibility.
Anyway, that's a really really quick introduction and quick explanation of may and might. I hope that that's clear. I'm definitely happy to create more detailed learning on this area. But, I just quickly wanted to answer that question now so that you all know and understand the difference.
Thanks for listening. Bye!
How was the learning video? Did it help you understand the difference between may and might and how to use them both correctly? I hope so!
Let me summarise the most important points for you to remember:
-MAY: possibility - the fact that something is possible - you think it's possible -you think that it will happen - there's a chance that it will happen - it's quite likely.
-MIGHT: there is less chance that something will happen - it's unlikely - there's only a small chance, in your opinion - there's real uncertainty that something will happen.
That's all you need to know really, it's a lot easier than you think!
I hope that this video has been helpful and enjoyable for you and I look forward to teaching you some more grammar lessons in the near future.
Thanks for taking the time to learn with me, it is a great pleasure helping you!
:) Nicole
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