GIVE ANSWERS - English

Vote now!AnsweredLanguage Question
What’s the difference between might, may and would?


PS: Find free English learning lessons here: Textbook: Slang AbbreviationsMore on OmissionAppearPrepositions of Position

GIVE ANSWERS

cgonzalezesq profile picture cgonzalezesqOctober 2021
might of course also means strength, but let’s move beyond that portion of the definition.

1. ’Might’ I might watch television tonight. Might signifies the possibility of doing something in the future.
2. May is of course a month, and outside of that, is similar to migh. You would say I may watch television tonight with the exact same meaning as above.
3. would is a bit different would denotes if given then choice you would take a certain action. Such as If i have time tonight I would like to watch television. It may be conditional, as noted in the sentence or it could be just a statement of opinion or preference such as I would prefer the red dress over the blue dress.
  • AussieInBg profile picture AussieInBgOctober 2021
    ”might” and ”may” are similar, but differ between British and American English in how they are used. I cover all that in my answer to the question.
AussieInBg profile picture AussieInBgOctober 2021

From your specific choice of the modal verbs ”might”, ”may” and ”would”, I infer that you are looking at their possibility/probability aspects. Also from the nature of your question, I can guess that you are learning British English rather than American English. So, in my answer, I'm going to focus on British English and the probability/possibility aspects of "might/may/which" while at the same time give the general differences between British and American English for these modal verbs.

might/may has something like a 50-70% chance of happening, e.g. ”I might/may go to the cinema next week” = there is a high probability that I go to the cinema next week, but it is not certain.

Usage differs between British and American English. ”might” is much more common in British English and ”may” in American. However, ”may” still does get used in British English in part to describe probability/possibility whereas ”might” is much less commonly used like that in American English generally.

”would” as a probability/possibility is used in British English to show that something is highly certain, but not 100% certain, better than perhaps a 90% chance, e.g. ”I think I would go to the cinema next week” = ”I think that it is 90% or more certain that next week, I see a film at the cinema.”

Americans rarely, if ever, use ”would” like that.

There are three other modal verbs used for probability/possibility not on your list - ”could”, ”can” and ”will”.

”could” is less stronger than ”might/may”, perhaps 30% or less chance. It is more pessimistic than ”might/may” e.g. ”I could go to the cinema next week” = more likely than not, I am not at the cinema next week to see the film. I am not hopeful about this.

”can” is stronger than ”might/may”, but weaker than ”would”, perhaps about an 80% chance of something happening, e.g. ”I can go to the cinema next week” = it’s very certain that I see the film, but still there is a small possibility that something happens and I am not able to do that.

”will” in British English is almost 100%, but not quite and is stronger than ”would”, e.g. ”I will go to the cinema next week” = almost completely certain but a tiny chance it won’t happen.

In American English, ”will” = 100% chance or completely certain. In British English, for that you use ”I am going to the cinema next week”.

So, in British English, going from weakest -> strongest probability/possibility, it’s:

could - might/may - can - would - will - ”am going to”

In American English, it’s could - may - can - will

I’ve mentioned that ”may” is sometimes used in British English for probability/possibility. It’s generally used like that in British English when there is also permission involved, e.g. ”I may go to the cinema next week” = it is likely that I go to the cinema, but only if my mum allows me.

Americans use ”may” just to describe the probability/possibility.

All the above is a little simplified, but enough I think for your level of English and to properly answer your question smile.gif

”might”, ”may” and ”would” are used in many other aspects, such as ”may” for permission as I had mentioned. However, I think I’ve given you enough already! You’ll see a lot of modal verbs and how they are used in English if you study in decent courses which cover modal verbs properly.