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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
May vs might
A: Is he telling the truth?
B: I’m not sure. He ........... the truth. (may / might not be telling)
I wonder whether "might" is correct here or not. To me, only “may [not] be telling” is formally correct, because of the tenses involved. We are making a simple declaration in the present tense about what we actually think now. There is no subjunctive involved.
B: I’m not sure. He ........... the truth. (may / might not be telling)
I wonder whether "might" is correct here or not. To me, only “may [not] be telling” is formally correct, because of the tenses involved. We are making a simple declaration in the present tense about what we actually think now. There is no subjunctive involved.
Top answer
There is no subjunctive involved with 'might' We are in a very grey area with 'may' and 'might'. For others, there is very little or no difference. Some speakers of AmE do not use 'may' at all.
- There is no subjunctive involved with 'might' We are in a very grey area with 'may' and 'might'.
- For others, there is very little or no difference.
- Some speakers of AmE do not use 'may' at all.
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5 Answers
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There is no subjunctive involved with 'might'
We are in a very grey area with 'may' and 'might'. For some older speakers of BrE (I am one) , they are as different as 'will' and 'would' or 'can' and 'could'.For others, there is very little or no difference. Some speakers of AmE do not use 'may' at all.
We are in a very grey area with 'may' and 'might'. For some older speakers of BrE (I am one) , they are as different as 'will' and 'would' or 'can' and 'could'.For others, there is very little or no difference. Some speakers of AmE do not use 'may' at all.
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Your response didn't answer my question. Would you please elaborate on a little bit more? Which one doesn't work here?
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Both work for many people, may indicating a stronger possibility than might. Both work for some people with effectively no difference in meaning. Some people would use only might. As I said, this is a grey area.
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