Maxsus ta’lim vazirligi nizomiy nomidagi Toshkent davlat pedagogika universiteti qoshidagi akademik litsey Nurmatov J. N, Kudratov K. X

Present Tense

Affirmative

I may

You may

He (she, it) may come

We may

They may

Negative
I may not

You may not

He (she, it) may not come

We may not

They may not

Question

May I

May you

May he (she, it) come?

May we

May they

Answers:

Yes, you may.

No, you may not or

No, you must not.

Past Tense

Affirmative

I might

You might

He (she, it) might come

We might

They might
Negative

I might not

You might not

He (she, it) might not come

We might not

They might not

Question

Might I

Might you

Might he (she, it) come?

Might we

Might they

Answers:

Yes, I might.

No, I might not.

Study this example situation:

You are looking for Bob. Nobody is sure where he is but you get some suggestions.

	He may (might) be in his office. (=perhaps he is in his office)
Where is Bob?	He might (may) be having lunch. (=perhaps he is having lunch)
	Ask Ann. She might (may) know. (=perhaps she knows)

We use may or might to say that something is a possibility. Usually you can use may or might, so you can say:

• 
  It may (might) be true. (=perhaps it is true)
  
• 
  She might (may) know. (=perhaps she knows)
  

The negative forms are may not and might not (or mightn’t)

• 
  It might not be true. (=perhaps it isn’t true)
  
• 
  I’m not sure whether I can lend you any money. I may not have enough. (=perhaps I don’t have enough)
  

Study the structure:

I/you/he (etc.)

may might

(not)

be (true/in his office etc.) be (doing/working/having etc.) do/know/have/want etc.

For the past we use may have (done) or might have (done):

• 
  A: I wonder why Kay didn’t answer the phone.
  

B: She may have been asleep. (=perhaps she was asleep)

• 
  A: I can’t find my bag anywhere.
  

B: You might have left it in the shop. (=perhaps you left it in the shop)

• 
  A: I was surprised that Sarah wasn’t at the meeting.
  

B: She might not have known about it. (=perhaps she didn’t know)

• 
  A: I wonder why Colin was in such a bad mood yesterday.
  

B: He may not have been feeling well. (=perhaps he wasn’t feeling well)
Study the structure:

I/you/he (etc.)

may might

(not)have

been (asleep/at home etc.) been (doing/waiting etc.) done/known/had/seen etc.

Sometimes could has a similar meaning to may and might:

• 
  The phone’s ringing. It could be Tim. (=it may/might be Tim)
  
• 
  You could have left your bag in the shop. (=you may/might have left it)
  

But couldn’t (negative) is different from may not and might not. Compare:

• 
  He was too far away, so he couldn’t have heard her. (=it is not possible that he heard her)
  
• 
  A: I wonder why Ann didn’t say good-bye.
  

B: Ann might not have noticed you. (=perhaps she didn’t notice you; perhaps she did)
We use may and might to talk about possible actions or happening in the future:

• 
  I haven’t decided yet where to spend my holidays. I may (might) go to Ireland. (=perhaps I will go Ireland)
  
• 
  Take an umbrella with you when you go out. It might (may) rain later. (=perhaps it will rain)
  
• 
  The bus doesn’t always come on time. We might (may) have to wait a few minutes. (=perhaps we will have to wait)
  

The negative forms are may not and might not (mightn’t):

• 
  Ann may (might) not come to the party tonight. She isn’t well. (=perhaps she will not come)
  
• 
  There might (may) not be a meeting on Friday because the director is ill. (=perhaps there will not be a meeting)
  

Usually it doesn’t matter whether you use may or might. So you can say:

• 
  I may (might) go to Ireland.
  
• 
  Jane might (may) be able to help you.
  

But we use only might (not may) when the situation is not real:

• 
  If I knew them better, I might invite them to dinner. (The situation here is not real because I don’t know them very well, so I’m not going to invite them. ‘May’ is not possible in this example.)
  

There is also a continuous form: may/might be -ing. Compare this with will be -ing:

• 
  Don’t phone at 8.30. I will be sleeping.
  
• 
  Don’t phone at 8.30. I might (may) be sleeping. (=perhaps I will be sleeping)
  

We also use may/might be -ing for possible plans. Compare:

• 
  I am going to Ireland in July. (for sure)
  
• 
  I may (might) be going to Ireland in July. (possible)
  

But you can also say ‘I may (might) go to Ireland’ with little difference of meaning.

Examples on unit:

1. 
   used for saying that something is possible
   

- Where is Nick.

- He may (might) be in the yard.

- Ник қаерда?

- У ҳовлида бўлиши мумкин. (=балким у ҳовлида)

You may (might) be right.

2. 
   Сен ҳақ бўлишинг мумкин. (=балким сен ҳақсан)
   

I may (might) be going to Italy on holiday this year.

Мен бу йил таътилда Италияга боришим мумкин. (=балким Италияга бораман)

3. 
   He may (might) not come if he is very busy.
   

Агар у банд бўлса, у кела олмаслиги мумкин. (=балким у келмайди)

4. 
   They may (might) have forgotten the meeting.
   

Улар мажлисни унутган бўлишлари мумкин. (=балким улар унутиб қўйганлар)

5. 
   The phone is ringing. It might (may/could) be Nick.
   

Телефон жиринглаяпти. Бу Ник бўлиши мумкин. (=балким бу Ник)

6. 
   to have permission to, be allowed to
   

- May I come in?

- Yes you may.

- Кирсам мумкинми (майлими)?

- ҳа, мумкин.

- but: (more politely)

- Might I come in?

- Yes, of course you may. (not ‘you might’)

7. 
   might used instead may in the past
   

I thought, “It may rain”.

Мен ўйладим, “Ёмғир ёғиши мумкин.”

I thought it might rain.

Мен ёмғир ёғиши мумкин деб ўйлагандим.

8. 
   there can be difference between may & might:
   

He may have failed his exam. (=perhaps he has failed) У имтиҳондан йиқилган бўлиши мумкин. (=балким йиқилган бўлиши мумкин, аниқ билмаймиз)

9. 
   He might have failed his exam. (=he was in danger of failing, but he did not) У имтиҳондан йиқилиши мумкин эди. (=у йиқилиш хавфи остида эди, лекин йиқилмади – буни биламиз)
   
10. 
    - Why hasn’t he come?
    

- He may have missed the bus. (=perhaps he has missed it. We still do not know)

- У нега келмади?

- У автобусга улгурмаган бўлиши мумкин. (=балким у автобусга улгурмаган. Биз ҳали буни билмаймиз)

11. 
    That car nearly hit me; I might have been killed! (but I wasn’t)
    

Анави машина мени уриб кетишига сал қолди; у мени ўлдириб қўйиши мумкин эди! (лекин мен тирикман)
when you are angry with somebody and here might (not ‘may’) used like should (ought to)

12. 
    You might at least say “thanks” when somebody gives you present.
    

Биронтаси сизга совға берганида ақалли “рахмат” деб қўйишингиз мумкинку. (= деб қўйишингиз лозим эди)

13. 
    You might have helped me! (I’m upset because you did not help)
    

Менга ёрдам беришинг мумкин эди-ку! (мен ёрдам бермаганингдан хафаман)

used when expressing wishes and hopes

14. 
    May you have a very happy married life! (= I very much hope that you will have this)
    

Оилавий ҳаётингиз бахтли бўлсин!

used for contrasting two facts followed by but:

He may (might) be fat, but he can still run fast.

У семиз бўлиши мумкин лекин у халиям тез югуради.

15. 
    He may (might) be very clever but he can’t do anything practical.
    

У жуда ақлли бўлиши мумкин, лекни аслида ҳеч нарса қила олмайди.
in clauses expressing hope or purpose with the meaning would, could

16. 
    I would have thought you might remember your mother birthday.
    

Мен, балким ойингни туғилган куни ёдингда деб ўйлагандим.
used for saying that you are not surprised that smth has happened

17. 
    I might (not ‘may’) have known he wouldn’t help.
    

Мен у ёрдам бера олмаслигини билардим.
in conditional sentences beginning with If I had known , If he had worked hard  etc (not ‘may’)

18. 
    If he had worked a lot he might (could) have passed exam.
    

Агар у кўп ишлаганида эди, у имтиҳонни топшира олган бўлар эди.

19. 
    If you tried, you might get the book.
    

Агар харакат қилганингда эди, бу китобни топишинг мумкин эди.
in passive may (might) cannot be used, instead we use to allow

20. 
    He was allowed to go there yesterday.
    

Унга кеча у ерга боришга рухсат беришди.
Pay attention:

Maybe he is a student (not ‘May be’) but

He may be a student. (not ‘He maybe’)

Don’t call on me at 7 in the evening. I may be having a shower. or

Don’t call on me at 7 in the evening. I might be having a shower. or

Don’t call on me at 7 in the evening. I will be having a shower.