Modals : May or Might

May or Might

    Express Possibility

Ø May is used for Higher Possibility 

When you are 70% to 80% sure about something.

It may rain tonight.
I may go to the party tonight.

Ø Might is used for Lower Possibility 

When you are only 10 to 20% sure about something.

It might rain today.

I might go to a party.

                              Give Permissions

Ø May is used for taking permission

May I come in?

May I go?

Ø May is used for giving permission

Yes, you may come in.

Yes, you may go.

Ø The modal Might is only used for permission

I reckon if I might borrow your pen?

The modal Might is not used for granting permission.

                      May and Might have a different tense


Remember:  May\Might + have + past participle

Past Participle : Verb form 3 or V3

May is the present tense.

Might is the past tense.

We may go for a movie. (Present)

They may have gone for a movie. (Past)

We might have gone for a movie, if we had a cab. (Past)

We may miss the train. (Present)

They may have missed the train. (Past)

We might have caught the train, but we missed it. (Past)

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