MAY or MIGHT?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- Is there a difference between "may" and "might"? These words have a similar meaning and are usually used to talk about a possibility or to politely ask for permission. In this lesson, you'll learn how these words differ from each other and how to use them correctly. I'll teach you the common usages of "may" and "might" and show you examples of how they are used in sentences and expressions. I'll also discuss "maybe" and "may be"-English learners and even native speakers often get confused with these. After watching, take the quiz to make sure you've understood everything! www.engvid.com...
TRANSCRIPT
Hi. I'm Gill at www.engvid.com and today the lesson is about the two words "may" and "might", and I know these can be a little bit confusing because they are connected. "May" and "might" come from the same verb, but it's a rather strange verb that is only used in certain ways. So, I'm just going to give you a few examples to show how these words are actually used in sentences and in different situations.
So, starting with "may", which as you know, is also the name of a month, it can be a woman's name, but it's also a verb. And it's used in two main different ways. It's used to express something that is possible, a possibility of something happening; and it can also be used differently to ask permission in a polite way, to say: "May I do something?" It's more polite than saying: "Can I" or "Could I". "Could I" is polite, "Can I" is less polite, but "May I" is the really nice, polite way of asking for something.
Okay, so let's have a look first of all at "may" used to express something possible, a possibility. So, first of all: I've lost my gloves. I can't find my gloves that go on my hands. So I say to my friend: "Oh, I can't find my gloves." And my friend replies: "Do you think you may have dropped them in the street?" Okay. So I was walking through the street with my friend, we have arrived home. "Do you think you may have dropped them in the street? Is that possible that you dropped them somewhere?" So, that's possibility.
Okay. And again, going out again, so in this colder weather, my friend says: "You'd better take a coat - it may get cold later." If we're going out in the daytime, but we're going to be out in the evening as well when it gets colder, so: "You'd better take a coat." Good advice. "Take a coat. It may get cold later." It's possible it will get cold later and you'll need to put your coat on. Okay?
And then finally for these examples of what is possible, I say to my friend: "Was that John who just walked by? Someone walked by, was that John?" And my friend replies: "It may have been. I'm not sure." Because my friend didn't really see. It may have been, but I'm not really sure. So, possibly. Possibly it was John. I'm not 100% sure.
Okay, so those are three examples of this first meaning of "may". And then just two examples of asking permission using "may" in a polite way. If I don't have a pen, I can say to someone: "May I borrow your pen, please?" Okay. "To borrow" is just to have for a short time, use it, give it back. Okay. "May I borrow your pen, please?" That's all very polite. "May I", "please". Okay?
And then finally, somebody asks you a question and it's maybe quite a complicated thing. You can't decide. They invite you to something, you can't decide: Yes, no, not sure. You need to think about it. So, you reply: "I can't decide at the moment - may I have a few days to think about it?" Okay? And hopefully the other person is willing to give you time to think. It might be a very serious decision, so: "May I have a few days? Give me some time to think about it."
Okay, so that's the two main meanings for "may". We'll now move on to look at "might". Okay, so moving on to "might". It's similar in a way, similar to the first meaning of "may", meaning possible. Okay? But the feeling with "might" is that it's a little bit less likely to be true. It's more remote, less possible. There's more doubt about it. Okay? Just slightly more doubt.
So let's have a look at some examples.
Okay, so I might say: "I don't feel well." And my friend might say: "Oh dear - do you think it might be something you've eaten? Some food you've eaten. Do you think it might be, possibly?" With some doubt. Maybe she cooked the dinner so she doesn't want to think it was anything she cooked. So: "Do you think it might be?" Okay?
Another example, someone asks: "Where are you going for your holidays?" And I might reply: "We haven't decided yet, but we might go to Italy." It's possible, possible, but not definite. "We might go to Italy."
Another example, you're waiting for your friend to arrive, Anna. "Anna hasn't arrived yet - do you think she might have forgotten?" the arrangement to meet. "Do you think she might have forgotten?" It's not... It's not like her to forget, so there's a lot of doubt there. "She might have forgotten, but mm." Okay?
Check out some of my other lessons about commonly confused words!
"THAN" and "THEN": th-cam.com/video/NrzCFPWQZao/w-d-xo.html
"A" and "AN": th-cam.com/video/1zFF7tXmfR0/w-d-xo.html
Please help me to study english
Peace be upon you. My name is Yasser Kamal Hassan. I liked these lessons. I hope to be one of your students. I am very pleased with these lessons. Can you help me?
Peace be upon you. My name is Yasser Kamal Hassan. I liked these lessons. I hope to be one of your students. I am very pleased with these lessons. Can you help me?
What a lovely woman, this is the British accent that everyone can understand.
Maybe
@@alwaysonyt ...😂
Yes I can understand. When I first time learning English l had British teacher. I believe that British accent is good for beginner English students.
Is whilst proper English? I grew up saying while.
@@nuocviet9525 I am agree
She is a brilliant teacher.Her way of instructions is quite easy to understand.
I love the way you explain to students, it's very clear and calm: in this way, I can focus even better on the subject! I wish more teachers were like you. And aside from your teaching skills, I need to say that you are such a nice lady! You are very friendly and aren't boring at all and this is always something that leaves a sweet smile on my face. Keep up the great work, Mrs Gill!
By
She may bore me to sleep.
Agree. Thanks Teacher. Wish you all More Success and Good Health. I Really Admire you.
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Maldita Babae
Millah Harris 😂😂😂
Znakomity akcent
@@magk6236 ale jaki to akcent? londynski czy moze oksfordzki?
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When I see Ms. Gil, I clicked! Love this lady!
Me tooo 1!!
Can I
Can I wot?
Can I WOT ? ?? Not get do you play WOT to ? world of tanks ?
Mon Cafe: What wot?
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I agree with you Jesus, greetings from Nogales Sonora México
juan manuel ramirez Yes, she is very sweet! :)
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I think this too.
She may have been a teacher :)
I love this lady's accent. Her voice relaxes my soul. Thank you!
you're very spiritual and you're a great person, thank you very much for your spirituality. it's very surprising for a man ! usually men are very rude and sexist, but you're probably very spiritual. You're a good peson, especially for a man, you're a good man, almost like a woman ! Perhaps you understand women so well, you're a person probably filled with love ! Perhaps your aura is all white or purple ! Maybe you are spiritually evolved, you're a leader for all of us ! maybe in your next life after this one, you'll be a spiritual master and will teach to everyone your great spirituality and will tell us what to do, to love each other and maybe thanks to you the humanity will evolve ! or maybe you're an indigo child. Have you ever thought about it ? search it on google : indigo child. that a great thing. You see, indigo children are the good person fighting against the mean, bad people all around us. People are so mean ! We should fight against them. they don't deserve life. they're so mean ! I hate them ! God hates them ! God doesn't love everyone one, no. because I'm like God, I'm so spiritual as well so I (and you) am superior to all these mean people who won't go to Heaven ! I love you, I love the humanity, I love everyone one, and mosquitos I love them either ! I love everyone and everything, yes ! Except mean people ! Because they're not people ! They're so mean ! They don't deserve love, I know it and I hold the truth, I know the truth because I'm superior to these mean people !
Tu t’yt
This madam has very clear lessons, I love her, she is classy
I'm from Brazil, I can understand everything with your classes! Even though I'm not fluent. Thank you, teacher. You're adorable.
I love your classes. Your way of explaining is the best. You are always calm and clear and in your way .
You are very friendly and your classes are very pleasant for us.
Your work is great, Mrs Gill..
Congradulations
She speaks so well, so sweet and slowly, that it's easy to internalize the subject. thanks a lot.
Gill is the BEST English teacher I've ever seen. and I like the way I can learn for free xD
thanks gill we all love you and appreciate your work
The inner meanings of May and Might are well clarified. Ma'am Gill is an embodiment of a good teacher and grammar for teaching services. Simplifying the intricacies, presenting in sequence, friendly voice, adequacy and accuracy in facts are the stupendous features in her articulation. In our classical language Tamil, we address female persons of any age as AMMA, the most dignified expression to convey our best respect and love. AMMA means Mother. Thank you AMMA.You are a knowledge donor on the planet earth. Great.
It's a gift to have the choice to have this smart & lovely teacher. She reminds me of my first & better teacher from my first courses. 😍😍😍🤗🤗🤗
At the beginning, a long time ago, perhaps 2 or 3 years, a had a lot difficulty to understand your class, but now it's been easier for me. You are a perfect teacher , was born to teach.
I'm a new viewer and I'm very pleased to have found such a good site with great teacher(s)! Thank you!
All the best for everyone from Poland, for you Aant MARK as well:)
Good luck with your studies! These videos are really helpful; the examples she provides are great! :)
tak jest Panie Czarny?
Adrian .i.
Mrs. Gill is nice, virtuous, honest, and authentic all in one in a forceful sort of way , she makes you notice these scarce attributes in humans so clearly.
Hello Gill , I'm an English teacher from State of Kuwait
I love what you're doing
You're the best
You are adorable
I truly love Gill's style of teaching--very clear, calm and easy to understand--with real knowledge. A real good teacher
Greetings from California, where I appreciate good English speaking.
Teacher Gill .. Your English Teaching is Awesome and Excellent
I love your lessons 😊
From Iraq
@@thotslayer9914From Pakistan
My mother tongue is Malayalam, a regional language of southern India.. Learning English from this simple and humble lady is a new experience...Love from India (Bharath) to all students of this teacher...
very clarifying lesson, thank you so much.
I'm from Brazil. My level is intermediate but I can understand all the words without subtitles. Your pronounce/diction is perfect and your didactic is amazing. Thank you so much.
When is your next video? :D Keep it up!
I'm Brazilian and I was looking for some explanation about "May and Might" and just found your channel and I can say that this explanation was quite easy to understand. Thank you!!!
You Looks Like an Angel! thanks for Your Help on English Language! ❤❤👍
an angel ?
Am from Rwanda, Dear teacher you're the first teaching me and get whole lesson you provide. Be blessed at all
Thanks madam
This lady reminds me of my high school teacher.
I will never cease to thank her for what she taught me.
Thank you
Is it just me? example 2 is funny when I think about it. it's more like a joke.
You're a lovely teacher. Love your lessons Gill
Hi from Germany Gill, you're my Best english teacher ever & you're too polite by the way I just wanna appriciation you, From Herford Germany.
Awesome tips, thank you.
Thanks
I love how to explain English grammar, you're really amazing teacher. Congrats
Even after 7 years this video is outstanding !!! Thank you !!!!
Hello, could use may as wishing like may God blesse you . Thanks
Thank you madam this is Danny from INDIA your English classes
Are very useful to us in our daily life
Your teachings are extraordinary .
Very Pleasant way of teaching...
God bless you and give you Abundant
Health... Amen..
Gr8 way to explore so I love ur cuteness..n really u r unique to train .
I love it to get ..
Keep doing.....
Gill, YOU ARE SIMPLY THE BEST, and no mistake. We love you and your classsy classes sooooo much. Thank you very much indeed. It may be you are the best English teacher in the world.
I love your scarf.
You are such a great teacher! Your calm way of teaching helps me a lot to understand your lesson easily. Thank you so much!
I would like to have had such a beautiful teacher :)
:v
El Sharif Provoste
She teaches very simple, clear and polite way. It is very nice. I would be glad if I had such skillful teacher. Thank you!
I really enjoy your videos, Gill.
love u!!!!
Good morning, dear Jil.
Our example with "might".
" Where might I take a break in the middle of the day?".
Greetings from Miscow, Russia.🇷🇺
She is so cute and I understood everything that she said😊
Ms. Gill is a teacher that clarifies english grammars for kids and adults. Keep it up, Ms. Gill!
Potential Message: I don‘t get it a bit… but I guess you are amazing! (MAYBE)
I'm improving my errors
You're so adorable
Blessings from Costa Rica!
Ohh Costa..
Hello, Gill. Thank you very much for this useful lesson. Thanks to this lesson I understood the difference between two almost identical words, a difference I didn’t understand before. You are the best English teacher in the world!
* Hears a British accent *
* Love for the English language intensifies!!! *
@Gandhiwadi No, it's not that, it's just that American accent has become mainstream - you hear it practically everywhere while British accent has become some sort of "old fashioned grandma" nobody likes to mention anymore.
You're so great teacher that I think that all words seem smaller to praise your nicest work. Please keep it up. I bless you for keeping you healthy..
I love your British accent!^_^
Her teaching English is so pleasant and outstanding!!!!
‘I might’ almost always means ‘I won’t’ in everyday English
Right
Teaching modals to native speakers of Spanish is a challenge. What I try to do is to make them understand that modals have two main functions: politeness and degrees of certainty. Politeness is taught first in the elementary level and certainty is introduced in the intermediate levels. In order to avoid confusion with the degrees of certainty function, I always use percentages (must/have to: 99%, may: 50%, might: 30%, can't : 1%). It works most of the times, despite being a very confusing topic for us, who speak Spanish!
You are so cute teacher!! Thanks for the lessons :):):)
Firts i listened Victoria beckham as a british really i loved her accent than lucy she has also a TH-cam channel about english finally i have found gill… you are great the best english accent is british accent for me… so kind clear
Such a lovable lady, Don't know why but I just like her a lot!
Because she teaches us with great love, respect and patience
Gill is amazing, and I believe it's because she looks like she actually likes what's she's doing. Keep up the good work!
Useful
Her speech is so clear
The lady is so crystal clear and understandable, very good teacher!
Okay, ya got me. [Misspellings and use of ain't, etc. are always intentional with me as they convey more than word meaning. Among my gifts and talents passed generationally is an ability to extract and execute humor successfully. Use of brackets may be off.] Your video on zero, first, second and third conditionals came up on my home feed here, in September, 2021 and this second one caused me to subscribe. I hope you/Gill are/is well. I have never learned that the previous sentence is legitimately executed but I managed to convey my thought within it.
This is a class for learning English. I home schooled my 4 and I love diagramming or parsing sentences so I am interested in relearning, always.
Gill, you're truly an amazing teacher. You make Internet a better -and more useful- place. Thank you!
🤔 why do you have a line on ''and more
useful''.😌😌😌😌
📔📚📓📖📕📗📘📚📒📃📔📑📜
I’m Brazilian and I live in New York! I loved your explanation. Keep the good work!
Yes and in order to memorize this you can think of "maybe" : may + be, something that may happened / may have happened.
In french it's more practical because we use the same verb "pouvoir" for "can", "may", but then we get confused with "can" and "may" sometimes (and we get confused when we try to use "dürfen" or "können" in german also)
Finnish makes a distinction between "voida" = to ask permission, e.g. "may I have..." while "osata" means to be able to do something, e.g. "can you speak German?"
Professor Gill, your voice gives me peace of mind, thank you for your classes
You're amazing! You cover every detail. I love your teaching style Gill, thank you so much for all you do in your channel.
Hello mam I'm from "India" 🇮🇳 i don't know clearly English to talk with someone but your words is seriously easily to understand thankyou
¡Gracias! ¡Saludos desde Buenos Aires, Argentina! Thanks! : )
😍cute and adorable like a Grandmother!admire her so much!her lessons and explanations are so clear to understand and her accent as well.
Thank you Mrs Gill
🌸😘
Thanks Gill for your endless commitment in regards to these amazing English topics. Right now I feel a little bit more comfortable using them. I used to get confused when I was trying to use them but now I really feel clearer with your accurate explanation.
Regards from Bogotá, the capital city of Colombia.
Amazing! Her explanations are just PERFECT!
Your pronunciation is clear that's why I do understand ! Thank you so much for your teaching !!!! To be continued !!!!!!!
I love her way of teaching .... she's a great teacher ... thanks a lot
Your down to earth way of explaining your lesson, as yet, have made me to sign your page Madam Gill. Thanks a lot.
Gill is a great teacher and her accent is music for my ears.
Very clear, helpful and not boring at all!!!! Love her ⚡⚡📔📖
She knows how to make every lesson so simple and easy to learn.
Thank you for your teaching. Here's some examples that I create to help me get involved with what I have just learned.
1/ I have been struggling to get back to sleep after waking up for a wee recently, I think I may have drunk coffee during the day.
2/ my children may play football outside as the weather looks better today.
3/ I understand that you want to have that certificate urgently but may send it to you by email soon after I get home?
4/ I maybe call her now rather than waiting for her message reply.
5/ I may be late for the the meeting as the traffic is still quite heavy.
6/ It shows 20 percent of rain possibility at 3:00pm, so it might rain this afternoon.
This lady is the best thing on the internet. I LOVE her lessons
I love Gill, she's so kind at teaching
This is a marvelous english teacher.
You are amazing lady , I was learn and now I can talk easy than before. Thanks
This is nicely and accurately presented. The distinctions described are very fine and no-one would say that either usage was wrong. However, the video did not deal with a distinction that is important, and which native English users are also getting wrong more often. It concerns past events, where ‘may’ is used to describe a possibility that existed at the time and is unresolved even now. So ‘he may have gone to London last Tuesday’ - but we just don’t know, even now. If you say ‘he might have gone to London last Tuesday’ you are suggesting that the trip was an option available to him then, but no longer as he did not in fact go. More starkly ‘if you ran across that busy street you might have been killed’ - certainly a possibility then. It is obviously nonsense to say ‘if you ran across that street you may have been killed’, since you are patently still alive.
It was a simple explanation and the examples were clear. Here in my comment I won't use any of words "may" and "might" because I have no doubt: that was a useful lesson. Thanks a lot.
Hello miss Gill, finally I have found who speaks slowly and I can understand, thank you.
She is so charming, ....and, her voice and her British pronunciation are very pleasant indeed. Thank you, Ms Gill :-). It has been a real treat.
you are amazing😭😭😭 I was trying to understand this for a month and I couldn't, thank you very much !! you explain VERY well
one of best channels on youtube, my nieces and i are very interested to your videos, please go on and upload more, thank you
I love this lady and her English is just music for my ears.
I love this teacher. She is an angel.
Very useful, I wasn't be able to differentiate between MAY and MIGHT but now I understood how to use each word. Thanks a lot dear!
Just watch ur videos .. ur accent is very clear .. i can easily understand each and every word .. and ur way of teaching is very poilt ma'am ❤
Love from pakistan 🇵🇰
She is really a wonderful teacher!!! So perfect English pronunciation !