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Jesusengland Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

You may as well / may just as well open them all.

Hello.

What is the difference in meaning?
- You may as well / may just as well open them all.
- He might as well / might just as well take the car.

Thanks.
  

Top answer

To me, there's no difference between "may" and "might" here. The addition of "just" makes virtually no difference either. To me, it just adds a slight emphasis (that this course of action will have the desired effect, and is probably the sensible one).

— Mr Wordy

  • To me, there's no difference between "may" and "might" here.
  • The addition of "just" makes virtually no difference either.
  • To me, it just adds a slight emphasis (that this course of action will have the desired effect, and is probably the sensible one).
  • But the sentences work perfectly well without it.
  • For some unknown reason, "may just as well" does not seem so natural to me as the others.
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2 Answers
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To me, there's no difference between "may" and "might" here.

The addition of "just" makes virtually no difference either. To me, it just adds a slight emphasis (that this course of action will have the desired effect, and is probably the sensible one). But the sentences work perfectly well without it.

For some unknown reason, "may just as well" does not seem so natural to me as t
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The expressions in red do not differ significantly in meaning. The use of may instead of might raises the register. The use of just lowers the register. (That's probably why may and just together seems odd to some -- they pull the register in opposite directions.)
Tom is as tall as Jack. ~ Tom is just as tall as Jack. (just ~ exactly)
Tom
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