May & Might

[Abdul basit jadoon]

Sir

Kindly explain the difference or meaning/tense of May & Might in the following sentences.

1: He may have been killed.&
He might have been killed.

2: She may be eating the meal. &
She might be eating the meal.

3: Adam may be invited for your marriage. &
Adam might be invited for your marriage.

Regards

[5jj]

This is a grey area at the moment. Some native speakers never use 'may', so any difference is irrelevant. For some, the two verbs are virtually interchangeable; for others,'might' implies less certainty than 'may'.

[TheParser]

1: He may have been killed.&
He might have been killed.


NOT A TEACHER


(1) Some teachers feel that "may have" + past participle = we do not know yet:

Mr. X was in that train wreck that happened an hour ago. He may have been killed.

The rescuers have already pulled out 10 bodies. They have not yet been identified.

We can only hope that Mr. X is not one of the dead.


(2) Some teachers feel that "might have" + past participle = something was possible,

but we now know that it did not happen:

Mr. X might have been killed in the train wreck if he had been sitting in one of the first

four carriages that derailed (fell off the tracks). Fortunately. he was sitting in the last

car (carriage), which did not derail. Good luck saved his life.