新概念英语丨【第一期】关于may与might你不知道的那些事

日期：2017-05-08 11:27 点击：

　　本次为大家介绍思源教育调研院院长廖怀宝老师给大家总结的一篇关于may和might区别的文章。

　　教师简介

　　

 

　　华东师范大学硕士，主攻英语教学法方向。十几年来，先后在大学和各知名外语培训机构执教，积累了丰富的英语教学经验和方法，在帮助大量学生提升英语语言能力的同时，又培养了一批青年骨干英语教师队伍。现任上海思源教育副院长兼教研院院长，带领旗下的中、外教老师钻研中小学生课程的教学、教研和服务，开设出了独具特色的各类课程颇受学生和家长好评。

　　作为情态动词，大家都知道might是may的过去式，但可能很多人不知道的是，may和might还存在诸多差别。
 

　　一、may的用法

　　may主要有三种用法：

　　1、表可能性(to talk about a possible situation)，如：

　　· Those reports may prove to be false.

　　· The chorus ,ay look silly,but they sound wonderful.

　　2、表示请求许可(to politely give or ask for permission to do something)，如：

　　· May we come in?

　　· That's all for now,you may go.

　　3、表达祝愿或希望(to express a wish or hope)，如：

　　· May they be very happy in the future.

　　· May you succeed in the coming year.

　　

 

　　二、may与might的区别

　　might在语法形式上，是may的过去式。所以，如果要表达对现在或未来的猜测的话，一般要用may;而要表达对过去的猜测的话，则要用might。如：

　　· It may take a long time to find a solution to the problem.

　　· He devised a plan whereby he might escape.

　　然而，这种差别在当代英语中越来越小——无论是表达对什么时间的猜测，may和might都可以。如：

　　· 对将来的猜测

　　She thinks she may be going crazy.

　　She thinks she might be going crazy.

　　· 对过去的猜测

　　I might have forgotten to mention it at the time.

　　I may have forgotten to mention it at the time.

　　那么，may和might到底有什么差别呢?

　　

 

　　01 may have与might have

　　如果在说话或写作的时候，不知道过去发生的事情的真相，那么may have和might have都可以。如：

　　· √ I think that comment may have offended some people.

　　· √ I think that comment might have offended some people.

　　如果要表达对过去的猜测，但说话者知道所要描述的事情实际上并没有发生，那就要采用might have，而不能用may have。如：

　　· √ Rose assured us that she was well, but she might havebeen badly hurt.

　　· X Rose assured us that she was well, but she may havebeen badly hurt.
 

　　02 may as well与might as well

　　两个短语都表示“不妨;还是...为好”，但might as well的语气更加委婉。如：

　　· There is nothing to do, so I may as well go to bed. (没什么事可做，我还是上床睡觉好了。)

　　· Now that they were all there she might as well speak her mind. (既然大家都在，她不妨把想法都谈出来。)
 

　　03 可能性的大小不一样

　　一般来说，may所表达的可能性比might要更大。如：

　　· They may visit Ireland in the near future.

　　这句话说明说话者认为他们还是比较有可能在不久的将来去爱尔兰的。

　　· The woman looked as if she might have been in her late 40s.

　　这句话说明说话者并没有什么把握确定这位女士的年龄，只是做了个尝试性的猜测而已。

　　

 

　　需要注意的是，如果只是做假设性的猜测的话，还是建议多用might。如果是在虚拟语气中，肯定要用might。如：

　　· If I were Dutch Imightsee immigration differently.

　　· If you go to bed earlier, you might feel better tomorrow.
 

　　04 间接引语中

　　在间接引语中，may要改为might。如：

　　· 直接引语：She said,“I may go out of business."

　　· 间接引语：She said she might go out of business.
 

　　05 当要表达不满或批评时

　　如果要表示“本可以怎么样”，以此来表达说话者的不满或批评时，一般要用might，而不是may。如：

　　· √ You might have told me that she wouldn't be in today!

　　· X You may have told me that she wouldn’t be in today!

　　· √ You'd think theymight be able to understand each other's point of view a bit more.

　　· X You'd think theymay be able to understand each other's point of view a bit more.
 

　　06 礼貌或委婉程度不一样

　　如果要提出问题、请求或建议时，might比may更加礼貌、委婉。如：

　　· Don't you think you mightbe a little old for him?

　　· MightI ask the Court to glance briefly at the judgment of Sir Harry Gibbs?

　　

 

　　07 当要表达祝愿或希望时

　　may一般常用来表达祝愿或希望，但might不行。如：

　　· √ May you both be very happy.

　　· X Might you both be very happy.
 

　　08 表许可时

　　1、当要征询许可时，may或might都可以，但是might如今被认为过于正式。而may又比can更显得有礼貌、更委婉。如：

　　May I borrow your pen? [polite]

　　Might I borrow your pen? [polite and very formal]

　　Can I borrow your pen? [less polite; considered by some to be incorrect usage]

　　2、当要给予或拒绝别人许可时，则只能用may或can，不能用might。如：

　　问题：Can I borrow your pen?

　　回答：

　　√ Yes, you may (borrow my pen). [polite]

　　√ Yes, you can (borrow my pen). [less polite]

　　X Yes, youmight (borrow my pen).

　　√ No, you may not (borrow my pen). [polite]

　　√ No, you can’t (borrow my pen). [less polite]

　　X No, you might not(borrow my pen).

　　

 

　　

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