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Modal Verbs - Lesson 208

May and Might for Speculation

Lesson 208 - learn may and might for speculation: how to form it, when to use it, clear examples and a short video from a British English teacher.

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How to form and use the may and might for speculation

He may well be looking for us by now. I may have lost my keys in the pub.


We can use may and might to speculate about situations and actions in the past present and future. May and might talk about possibilities and so are very suitable for speculating about possible situations. In many ways talking about possibility and speculating are the same thing.
For example: He may have arrived by now, if there wasn't any traffic.
We might be very tired when he gets home. If I study really hard, I might just pass my exams.
Where is John? He's not here, he may have gone shopping, or he might have gone to his mother's house.

We use may and might when we are imagining the things that people may be doing, or may have done. May indicates a higher degree of certainty than might. In both cases we are indicating that we suspect we know what someone is doing, but that we are not certain. For certainty we use must, or must have. For impossibility we use can't, couldn't, can't have or couldn't have.

MOST CERTAIN must 99,9% > may 50% > might 40% > can't = couldn't 0% IMPOSSIBLE
For example, if you are speculating about where somebody is all of the following are possible but each has a different meaning:
He must be working. He may be working. He might be working. He can't be working.
He must have gone home. He may have gone home. He might have gone home. He couldn't have gone home.


The following video explains May and Might for Speculation:

Watch the video lesson

Video transcript

Hi. May and might for speculation. OK, in many ways this is very similar to possibility. we can use the... may or might to speculate about what other people are doing. What they may be doing at the moment. So. Where's my brother? He might be sleeping, he may be sleeping, because I know he had a very late night last night. I am speculating that he is sleeping. Look he's got up! He's got a terrible hangover. He may have drunk too much alcohol, he may well have drunk. OK. I am speculating again as to what he did. Umm... I've lost my passport. I may have left it at the passport control desk. OK. I may have left. I am speculating here about where I left it. Notice in these speculations may indicates more certainty than might. OK. I may have left it at the passport control, it might even have fallen out of my pocket. OK, and there I am speculating as to what has happened to it. So, there you are may and might for speculation. I'll see you in another video. Thanks for watching and I may well see you soon. Thanks a lot. Bye.

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This lesson is part of our free English Modal Verbs course. Work through the series in order, or jump to the tense or structure you need next.

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