‘May’ or ‘might’?

PiP · Feb 3, 2015

Please can someone explain, with examples, when to use 'may' and 'might'

GingerCoffee · Feb 3, 2015

It depends if you want to be technically correct or just sound OK. The words are commonly used interchangeably. The dictionary says 'might' is the past tense of 'may'.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/might

Usage Note: May or might? In many situations, the choice between these two verbs can be clarified by remembering that might is the past tense form of may, and that in English, a past tense form is used to refer not just to events that occurred in the past (She left yesterday), but to hypothetical,counterfactual, or remotely possible situations (If you left now,you'd get there on time.) Thus, the past tense form might is appropriate in this sentence about an unlikely future event: If I won the lottery, I might buy a yacht. (Note that might can be replaced with would or could, which are the past tense forms, respectively, of will and can.) When referring to a hypothetical or contrary-to-fact situation in the past, rather than an imagined future situation, the verbs are shifted to the remote past: won becomes had won, and might buy becomes might have bought: If I had won the lottery, I might have bought a yacht (here too,might have can be replaced with would have or could have). Since about the 1960s, however, people have started using may have where might have would be expected (as in, If he hadn't tripped, he may have won the race). Although this usage is common in casual speech, it is considered unacceptable by the majority of the Usage Panel. In our 2012 survey, 97 percent of the Usage Panelists found the sentence If John Lennon had not been shot, the Beatles might have gotten back together acceptable. Only a third of the Panel (32 percent) approved ofthe same sentence with may have replacing might have. · When may and might are used to indicate possibility or probability, as in He may lose his job or We might go on vacation next year, the two words are used almost interchangeably. It is sometimes said that might suggests a lower probability than may, perhaps because of its use in hypothetical statements that omit the conditional clause (You might get there on time can be thought of as short for If you hurried, you might get there on time). In practice, however, few people make this distinction.
Our Living Language In many Southern US varieties of English, might can be paired with other auxiliary verbs such as could, as in We might could park over there. Words like might and could are known as modals, since they express certain"moods" (for example, I might go indicates an uncertain mood on the part of the speaker). Combinations such as might could,might would, and might can are known as double modals. Other less common combinations include may can, may will, and might should. Since double modals typically begin with may or might, they lessen the degree of conviction or certainty (much like the word possibly) more than a single modal does. Double modals are used, for example, to minimize the force of what one is saying, as when asking someone for a favor or when indicating displeasure. · Although double modals may sound odd outside of the South, they carry little if any social stigma within the South and are used by speakers of all social classes and educational levels—even in formal instances like political addresses. Like many features of Southern varieties of English,the use of double modals is probably due to the fact that many of the first English speakers in the South were Scotch-Irish,whose speech made use of double modals.
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lustrousonion · Feb 3, 2015

This is what I think:

May can express permission and possibility/likelihood. Might is the past tense of may. The only real time this is interesting is with polite requests. It's often more polite to change modals to the past tense when making requests. (Can I? --> Could I? / Will you? --> Would you?) Might can also be used in the present tense, then it has a weaker likelihood than may. If you use might, the likelihood is pretty small.

Permission: "May I go visit a friend?" / "Might I go visit a friend?"
Likelihood in the present: "I may leave the party early."
Likelihood in the past: "I might have left the party early."
Smaller likelihood in the present: "I might travel to the moon someday."

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‘May’ or ‘might’?

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