新概念英語丨【第一期】關(guān)于may與might你不知道的那些事

日期：2017-05-08 11:27 點(diǎn)擊：

　　本次為大家介紹思源教育調(diào)研院院長(zhǎng)廖懷寶老師給大家總結(jié)的一篇關(guān)于may和might區(qū)別的文章。

　　教師簡(jiǎn)介

　　

 

　　華東師范大學(xué)碩士，主攻英語教學(xué)法方向。十幾年來，先后在大學(xué)和各知名外語培訓(xùn)機(jī)構(gòu)執(zhí)教，積累了豐富的英語教學(xué)經(jīng)驗(yàn)和方法，在幫助大量學(xué)生提升英語語言能力的同時(shí)，又培養(yǎng)了一批青年骨干英語教師隊(duì)伍?，F(xiàn)任上海思源教育副院長(zhǎng)兼教研院院長(zhǎng)，帶領(lǐng)旗下的中、外教老師鉆研中小學(xué)生課程的教學(xué)、教研和服務(wù)，開設(shè)出了獨(dú)具特色的各類課程頗受學(xué)生和家長(zhǎng)好評(píng)。

　　作為情態(tài)動(dòng)詞，大家都知道m(xù)ight是may的過去式，但可能很多人不知道的是，may和might還存在諸多差別。
 

　　一、may的用法

　　may主要有三種用法：

　　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、表示請(qǐng)求許可(to politely give or ask for permission to do something)，如：

　　· May we come in?

　　· That's all for now,you may go.

　　3、表達(dá)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與might的區(qū)別

　　might在語法形式上，是may的過去式。所以，如果要表達(dá)對(duì)現(xiàn)在或未來的猜測(cè)的話，一般要用may;而要表達(dá)對(duì)過去的猜測(cè)的話，則要用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，這種差別在當(dāng)代英語中越來越小——無論是表達(dá)對(duì)什么時(shí)間的猜測(cè)，may和might都可以。如：

　　· 對(duì)將來的猜測(cè)

　　She thinks she may be going crazy.

　　She thinks she might be going crazy.

　　· 對(duì)過去的猜測(cè)

　　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到底有什么差別呢?

　　

 

　　01 may have與might have

　　如果在說話或?qū)懽鞯臅r(shí)候，不知道過去發(fā)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.

　　如果要表達(dá)對(duì)過去的猜測(cè)，但說話者知道所要描述的事情實(shí)際上并沒有發(fā)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與might as well

　　兩個(gè)短語都表示“不妨;還是...為好”，但might as well的語氣更加委婉。如：

　　· There is nothing to do, so I may as well go to bed. (沒什么事可做，我還是上床睡覺好了。)

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

　　03 可能性的大小不一樣

　　一般來說，may所表達(dá)的可能性比might要更大。如：

　　· They may visit Ireland in the near future.

　　這句話說明說話者認(rèn)為他們還是比較有可能在不久的將來去愛爾蘭的。

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

　　這句話說明說話者并沒有什么把握確定這位女士的年齡，只是做了個(gè)嘗試性的猜測(cè)而已。

　　

 

　　需要注意的是，如果只是做假設(shè)性的猜測(cè)的話，還是建議多用might。如果是在虛擬語氣中，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 間接引語中

　　在間接引語中，may要改為might。如：

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

　　· 間接引語：She said she might go out of business.
 

　　05 當(dāng)要表達(dá)不滿或批評(píng)時(shí)

　　如果要表示“本可以怎么樣”，以此來表達(dá)說話者的不滿或批評(píng)時(shí)，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 禮貌或委婉程度不一樣

　　如果要提出問題、請(qǐng)求或建議時(shí)，might比may更加禮貌、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 當(dāng)要表達(dá)祝愿或希望時(shí)

　　may一般常用來表達(dá)祝愿或希望，但might不行。如：

　　· √ May you both be very happy.

　　· X Might you both be very happy.
 

　　08 表許可時(shí)

　　1、當(dāng)要征詢?cè)S可時(shí)，may或might都可以，但是might如今被認(rèn)為過于正式。而may又比can更顯得有禮貌、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、當(dāng)要給予或拒絕別人許可時(shí)，則只能用may或can，不能用might。如：

　　問題：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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