May and Might

A2–B1Modal VerbsJanuary 13, 2026

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when do we use might when do you use me

what's the difference

I'm arnelle from arnelle's everyday

English and today we're going to look at

me and my step by step today it's the

grammatical structure possibility in the

present and future past possibility with

pronunciation permission and expressing

wishes today there's going to be a lot

of information so you need a pen and a

notebook

get ready to take notes let's begin the

grammatical structure may and might our

modal verbs you know little verse they

are may and might can could should

she'll will would and must but today

it's only may and might we use modal

verbs plus infinitive without to I might

order a pizza later I might to order

pizza I may need to see a dentist

I may to need to see a dentist that's

not correct modal verbs also do not

change therefore my money you might he

she it might we might they might we do

not say

he it mites yes I also cannot say I am

my ting I am a in yesterday I might did

yesterday I made positive I might borrow

my dad's car

negative I might not borrow my dad's car

question might I borrow your car please

okay that's the grammatical structure

let's keep going

possibility in the present and future we

use maeín right plus infinitive to speak

about present and future possibilities

let's do lots of examples together on

this line I have 0% and 100% I have

brown hair

this is 100% I have blonde hair

this is 0% I have brown hair may and

might are in the middle we use may for a

stronger possibility and might for a

weaker possibility

my grandma's heart isn't doing very well

she may need to have an operation this

isn't 100% yes operation it's a strong

possibility she may need to have an

operation I am so bored in my job I

might start looking for a new job I'm

not sure here it's a week

possibility I'm not sure depends Tim and

Amy have been fighting a lot lately they

may break up soon this this is a strong

possibility

oh you need a babysitter I might be able

to help you it depends on my job when

would you need me here it's a weaker

possibility I'm not sure if I'm

available so we know may is for stronger

possibilities might is for weaker

possibilities but many native English

speakers use may and might in the same

way and there's no difference in meaning

I might buy a dog I made by a dog it's

the same we might be moving to London we

may be moving to London it's the same

dr. Miller

may call you later dr. Miller might call

you later

your keys might still be in your car

your keys may still be in your car there

we go grammatical structure done

possibility for the present and future

done let's keep going past possibility

so we know we use may my plus infinitive

for present and future possibility for

past possibility we use may might have

plus past participle it's always have

it's never has what's the past

participle it's a verb number three go

went gone gone is my past participle

play played played played is my past

participle

where's Jimmy he may have missed the bus

where's Jimmy he might have taken the

wrong bus

I used may he may have missed the bus

because this is a stronger possibility

he's late where is he he might have

taken the wrong bus is a weaker

possibility a bus has a number on it

it's not really easy to take the wrong

bus again you can use May and right in

the same way many people do it but if

you want to be very specific Mike is for

stronger possibility May is for the

weaker possibility listen might have

might have might have might have may

have May of may of May of my flatmate

might have used on my toilet paper

my flatmate may of use on my toilet

paper in spoken English it's very

natural to contract might have and may

have if you think the contraction looks

a bit difficult think about it like this

might have sounds like my of may have

sounds like May of of course my of May

of is not correct but it's the sound

that's correct

I might have left the stove on this

morning can't remember don't worry David

may have tried to call you last night

was your phone on the police I'm sure

but the criminals may have escaped to

Peru all of these sentences express a

past possibility you are doing an

amazing job this is a lot of information

but we're almost finished so let's keep

going

permission we use may and might to ask

and give permission in a very formal and

polite way may I use your pen may I sit

here

might I use your pen might I sit here

actually using mine to ask for

permission and to give permission is a

bit old-fashioned but it's good to know

giving permission may I use your pen of

course you may may I sit here

of course you may yes sweetie you may

have dessert right that's permission

done let's continue

let's continue with expressing wishes we

use may not might when we want to wish

someone else

well imagine your friend is getting

married

and you buy a card inside the card you

could write a message may you both have

a long happy and healthy marriage you

are wishing someone else well I don't

know if any of you are Star Wars fans

but there's a very famous line of the

movie may the force be with you

this means good luck

again you are wishing someone else well

well we have done so much with May and

Mike today the grammatical structure

possibility in the present and future

past possibility expressing wishes and

permission if you enjoyed this lesson

subscribe to me on youtube you can also

find me on Facebook Instagram kora just

look for arnelle's

everyday English and I'll see you soon

for another lesson

[Music]

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About this lesson

Learn how to use “may” and “might” to talk about possibility, uncertainty, and probability.

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