May\might 2

[Tdol]

;-)

 

[Isra]

hi tdol!

I am for the first alternative?
Why not? May be isn't clear if he survived or not??:-|

 

[riverkid]

He may have died.

This can be used in either an epistemic modal manner or a deontic modal manner so either is possible. 'may' used in the latter fashion, as a deontic denoting an admonishment is a much less likely collocation than 'could' or 'might', hence we have a greater tendency to view it as "a possibility that he died".

 

[angel_catcher75]

i think both are possible depending on the situation and the intonation the speaker uses while saying it. the first one will mean that he escaped close death and the second will imply uncertainity

 

[bessy1227]

hi,
May i know the answer?

 

[Tdol]

He may have died in the accident.- current status unknown
He might have died in the accident.- he survived, but there was a risk of death

However, this distinction is being eroded and many speakers use 'may + have + past participle' with the second meaning.

 

[riverkid]

He may have died in the accident.- current status unknown
He might have died in the accident.- he survived, but there was a risk of death

However, this distinction is being eroded and many speakers use 'may + have + past participle' with the second meaning.

This distinction never existed, Tdol, at least not in the sweeping fashion that has been suggested. In certain circumstances, 'might' can be used in a mocking, admonishing type fashion;

"He might have been killed if you two had tried that stunt."

But to suggest that a speaker can't state that, in their mind, there's a greater certainty that death could have occurred, leaves certain thoughts unexpressable in English. This is something that just can't possible occur.

"He may have been killed if you two had tried that stunt."

"He probably would have been killed if you two had tried that stunt."

"He almost certainly would have been killed if you two had tried that stunt."

"He would have been killed if you two had tried that stunt."

He may have died in the accident.- current status unknown or an admonishment

He might have died in the accident. - current status unknown or an admonishment

 

[rommanomar]

Thank you very much

 

[bhaisahab]

He may have died in the accident.- current status unknown.

He might have died in the accident. - current status unknown or an admonishment.

My contribution, just in case anyone might be interested.;-)

 

[ski_power]

I believe both are correct in spoken english depending on the part the speaker stresses.

 

[be real]

This means we don't know whether he is alive or dead.

 

[Unwritten]

<
<


Mmmm , I disagree with you

I am with the First option, I hope so :-?​

 

[LearneroE]

The second option is correct

 

[Bust3rboi]

He may have died in the accident. - Means status is unknown . Let me try to make it a little more simple.

Kid : " Dad can i have a dollar coin ?"
Dad : "I may be able to give you a dollar coin .Let me check my wallet" .
*checks*
Dad : " Aww sorry son , im out of coins "

This shows one is not 100% certain about the situation .

If you wanted the sentence to show that the driver survived , the better word to replace " may " with is could .

 

[tareq10]

may is the same as might but 'might' has less possibility
it might rain.
it may rain.

If might has 50% possiblility, may has 60% or more

It depends on the situation

 

[zeus]

Example: Why wasn't Mary in class?
a)100% She was sick (The speaker is sure)

b) 95% She must have been sick (The speaker is making a logical
conclusion,''I saw Mary yesterday
found out that she was sick.I
assume that is the reason why
she was absent.I can't think of
any other good reason'')

c)Less than 50% (The speaker is mentioning one
possibility.)
c1)She may have been sick
c2)She might have been sick
c3)She could have been sick

 

[Huda-M]

got it right!!!

 

[billmcd]

Context. Context. Context.

 

[The Majesty]

I still misunderstand. How can give us prpoer answer

and thanks

 

[Score_Under]

@Tdol, as I can't seem to PM you on this board, I'll just leave this here

I am fairly sure that using a backslash instead of a slash to mean "or" is an error, but of course I'm not 100% sure.
See 1. Backslash, forward slash…what’s the difference? Calmer Than You Are
And 2. Slash (punctuation) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (note that there is no such entry on the page for backslash.)