Risultati di ricerca
from English Grammar Today. May: forms. Affirmative (+) form. May comes first in the verb phrase (after the subject and before another verb): It may be possible for him to get home tonight. May can’t be used with another modal verb: This may hurt you. Not: This may could hurt you. or This could may hurt you. Negative (−) form.
Level: beginner. We use may: when we are not sure about something in the present or future: Jack may be coming to see us tomorrow. (= Perhaps Jack will come to see us tomorrow.) Oh dear! It's half past ten. We may be late for the meeting. (= Perhaps we will be late for the meeting.)
"May or may not" is used to indicate that the point is under thought or scrutiny. It's not meant to give a clear indication that one option is more likely than the other. For what it is worth, you're not alone in your difficulty accepting the phase. I usually follow up use of "may or may not" with one of two statements:
- You could say you may or may not do something if you wanted to emphasize your undecided state of mind. I may or may not go to bed tonight. This l...
- What you are missing is that logic and language are separate domains with a smaller overlap than many people would like to think. Logically, "I ma...
- In addition to all the correct answers, here is another rather ironic use that I encounter quite often. I may or may not have to use the bathroom r...
- I use may to mean that something is a possibility, i.e it may not be fair. This does not mean that I conclude that it is unfair; rather, that...
- I'm not a native speaker but these are my two cents: Language and logic are, indeed, deeply woven when it comes to formal speech. Tautologies, redu...
- The phrase, "...may or may not" implies the potential of intent. The word "might" does not. This usage comes up in engineering quite often. The bol...
Grammar Point modal verbs. Idioms. be that as it may. (formal) despite that synonym nevertheless. I know that he has tried hard; be that as it may, his work is just not good enough. may/might (just) as well do something. used to say that something seems the best thing to do in the situation that you are in, although you may not really want to do it
may | May: Inglese: Italiano: as the case may be adv (whatever the actual situation) a seconda dei casi, a seconda : as you may know expr (you probably already know this) (espressione) come forse saprai, come forse saprete : be that as it may expr (despite [sth]) ad ogni modo, sia come sia loc avv : comunque, comunque sia avv
3 giorni fa · - Easy Learning Grammar. Both may and might can be used in requests and in expressions of possibility for the present and future. Might I ask you your name? The weather may/might be better tomorrow. Craig may/might know his results soon. We may/might go to the cinema tonight. ‘May I come with you?’. Nicky asked.
1. “May” or “Might” When It Comes to Tense. When a sentence is in the present tense, the preferred word to use is may: She may join us for dinner. Howard may call you soon. We may go to the party. When a sentence is in the past perfect tense, the preferred word to use is might. I might have joined you last night if it weren’t for the rain.
