Page 150 - Basic English Usage

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Questions
We do not use may in questions about probability.
Do you think you'll go camping this summer?
summer?)
this
(NOT May you ge camping
might
Mightis not the past of may. It is used to talk about a smaller chance
than may. Compare:
/ may go to London tomorrow. (Perhaps a 50 per cent chance.)
Joe might come with me.(Perhaps a 30 per cent chance.)

Conditional
Might (but not may) can have a conditional use.
if you went to bed for an hour you might fee! better.
(= ... perhaps you would feel better.)

may/might have ...

We use a special structure to talk about the chance that something
happened in the past.

may/might have + past participle |

‘Polly’s very late.’ ‘She may have missed her train.’
‘What was that noise?’ ‘it might have been a cat.’
We can use the same structure (with might only) to say that something
was possible, but did not happen.
That was a bad place to go skiing. You might have broken your leg.
(Could have ... is used in the same way. See 79.3.)

200 may and might: permission

Asking for permission
May and might can be used to ask for permission. They are more formal
than can and could. Might is very polite and formal, and is not common.
May | putthe TVon? — | wonder if | might have a little more cheese?

Giving and refusing permission
May is used to give permission. May not is used to refuse permission,
and to forbid.
‘May | put the TV on?’ ‘Yes, of course you may.’
Students may not use the staff car park.
These are rather formal. In informal language, we prefer can and can t.
(See 80.)