May vs. Might: Meanings and Examples

May and might both describe possibility, but neither word assigns a fixed percentage to an outcome.^[1] May is also the ordinary modal for granting permission. Might often makes a possibility sound more remote, tentative, or dependent on an unreal condition. Context matters more than a rigid “likely versus unlikely” ladder.

What Is the Difference Between May and Might?

Use both words for possibility, then use context to decide whether permission, tentativeness, or a hypothetical condition is central. Learner references often associate may with present-time possibility and permission, and might with past-time or unlikely hypothetical contexts.^[2] That pattern is a useful starting point, not a probability formula.

Context	May	Might	Practical reading
Open future possibility	The parcel may arrive today.	The parcel might arrive today.	Both leave the outcome open; might can sound more tentative.
Granting permission	You may use this desk.	—	May authorizes the action.[3]
Asking permission	May I use this desk?	Might I use this desk?	May I is the standard formal request; might I is very formal and uncommon.[4]
Conditional possibility	If the road clears, we may leave at noon.	If the road cleared, we might leave at noon.	The second sentence presents a more remote condition.
Past possibility	Lee may have missed the train.	Lee might have missed the train.	Both speculate about a past event.
Counterfactual past	—	I might have caught it if I had left earlier.	The event did not happen under the stated condition.

Do not infer an exact probability from the modal alone. Native speakers do not consistently agree that the two words form a fixed certainty scale.^[1] “It may rain” and “It might rain” can describe the same forecast. A speaker can choose might to sound cautious, yet another speaker can use the two forms interchangeably in that setting. Add evidence when the degree of likelihood matters: “The forecast gives a 30% chance of rain” communicates more than either modal by itself.

Permission creates a clearer contrast. May can grant or deny permission.^[3]

• You may begin the test now.
• Visitors may not enter the archive.

The second sentence denies permission. It does not merely predict that visitors are unlikely to enter. Because may not can also mean “possibly will not,” the surrounding subject and situation must identify the reading:

• The director says that visitors may not enter. This is a prohibition.
• The visitors may not arrive before noon. This is a possibility.

A request is different from a grant. “May I leave?” asks the listener to authorize an action. “Might I leave?” can perform the same request, but that use is very formal and uncommon.^[4] “You might leave” normally suggests a possibility or option rather than granting permission. If authorization must be unmistakable, use may, be allowed to, or a direct permission statement.

How Do May and Might Work With Time and Conditions?

The words do not map neatly onto present and past tense; the full verb phrase and the surrounding clause establish the time and meaning. Might is often associated with past and hypothetical settings, while may commonly appears in present permission and possibility contexts.^[2] However, both can point forward, and both can appear with have when a speaker evaluates a past event.

For a present or future possibility, compare these sentences:

• The technician may call this afternoon.
• The technician might call this afternoon.

Both calls are in the future. The second can make the plan sound less settled, but nothing in either sentence supplies a numerical chance. A conditional clause can create the stronger difference:

• If the replacement arrives this morning, we may finish today.
• If the replacement arrived this morning, we might finish today.

The first condition is presented as open. The second uses a remote conditional pattern and treats the situation as less immediate. The modal contributes to that hypothetical framing, but the past-form arrived also does important work.

For speculation about an earlier event, may have and might have are followed by a past participle:

• Rina may have taken the earlier bus.
• Rina might have taken the earlier bus.

Neither sentence confirms which bus Rina took. A counterfactual context changes the interpretation:

• Rina might have taken the earlier bus if she had found her pass.

The condition implies that she did not find the pass and did not take that bus. The sentence is not merely a weak guess about the past; it describes an unreal alternative.

Reported speech supplies another common reason for might. Might serves as the past form of may in an indirect report.^[4]

• Direct statement on Monday: “I may attend the workshop.”
• Later report: Jo said that they might attend the workshop.

This backshift places the original possibility inside a past report. It does not by itself prove that attendance became less probable; it identifies might as the reported form used for the original may statement.^[4]

Negative forms require particular care. Might not usually presents a negative possibility or an undecided plan. May not can do that too, but it can also deny permission.^[5][3]

• I might not apply this year. The decision remains open.
• The office may not open on Friday. Closure is possible.
• Staff may not share this password. Sharing is prohibited.

When a real-world instruction could be misunderstood, replace the modal with explicit wording such as “Staff are not permitted to share this password” or “The office might be closed on Friday.”

Can You Choose May or Might in Context?

Choose the modal that best expresses the stated meaning, not the modal that supposedly represents a fixed probability. More than one modal can be grammatical in an open possibility, so each item below supplies a specific contrast.

1. The supervisor grants permission: “You ___ leave after you submit the form.”
2. Ask for permission in the standard formal pattern: “___ I open the window?”
3. Describe an unreal past alternative: “I ___ have accepted the offer if the hours had been different.”
4. Backshift this statement after a past reporting verb: Ana said, “I may join the call.” → Ana said that she ___ join the call.
5. Use the deliberately more tentative negative choice: “The delivery ___ not arrive until Monday.”
6. Complete the remote condition: “If I lived closer, I ___ walk to work.”
7. Deny permission: “Candidates ___ not use a phone during the examination.”
8. Make the ambiguity explicit: Rewrite “The interns may not attend” so it clearly means attendance is uncertain, not forbidden.

Answer key

1. may — The sentence grants authorization, the clearest permission use of may.
2. May — “May I…?” is the standard formal request for permission.
3. might — “Might have accepted” works with the unreal condition and describes an alternative that did not occur.
4. might — The exercise specifically requests ordinary backshift from may inside a past report; it does not claim the probability changed.
5. might — This choice avoids the permission reading that may not could create. May not is also grammatical when context already makes possibility clear.
6. might — The past-form condition if I lived presents a remote hypothetical situation.
7. may — May not denies permission in this examination rule.^[3]
8. The interns might not attend. An equally explicit revision is “It is possible that the interns will not attend.”

A final editing check is simple: identify the intended function first. Use may for an unmistakable grant of permission. Treat may and might as overlapping choices for open possibility. Prefer might when the sentence is deliberately tentative, backshifted, or counterfactual, and make any important probability explicit with evidence rather than relying on the modal alone.