Contents introduction chapter I grammatical meaning, grammatical form

May and might. The verb may expresses possibility in either an epistemic or deontic sense, that is, in terms of possible circumstance or permissibility. For example: The mouse may be dead means that it is possible that the mouse is dead. You may leave the room means that the listener is permitted to leave the room. In expressing possible circumstance, may can have future as well as present reference (he may arrive means that it is possible that he will arrive; I may go to the mall means that I am considering going to the mall). The preterit form might is used as a synonym for may when expressing possible circumstance (as can could - see above). It is sometimes said that might and could express a greater degree of doubt than may. For uses of might in conditional sentences, and as a past equivalent to may in such contexts as indirect speech, see Past forms above. May (or might) can also express irrelevance in spite of certain or likely truth: He may be taller than I am, but he is certainly not stronger could mean "While it is (or may be) true that he is taller than I am, that does not make a difference, as he is certainly not stronger."
May can indicate presently given permission for present or future actions: You may go now. Might used in this way is milder: You might go now if
¹¹ Kenneth G. Wilson, "Double Modal Auxiliaries", The Columbia Guide to Standard American English, 1993, p. 79.
you feel like it. Similarly May I use your phone? is a request for permission (might would be more hesitant or polite).
A less common use of may is to express wishes, as in May you live long and happy or May the Force be with you (see also English subjunctive). When used with the perfect infinitive, may have indicates uncertainty about a past circumstance, whereas might have can have that meaning, but it can also refer to possibilities that did not occur but could have in other circumstances (see also conditional sentences above).
She may have eaten the cake (the speaker does not know whether she ate cake). She might have eaten cake (this means either the same as the above, or else means that she did not eat cake but that it was or would have been possible for her to eat cake).
Note that the above perfect forms refer to possibility, not permission (although the second sense of might have might sometimes imply permission¹²). The negated form of may is may not; this does not have a common contraction (mayn't is obsolete). The negation of might is might not; this is sometimes contracted to mightn't, mostly in tag questions and in other questions expressing doubt (Mightn't I come in if I took my boots off?).
The meaning of the negated form depends on the usage of the modal. When possibility is indicated, the negation effectively applies to the main verb rather than the modal: That may/might not be means "That may/might not-be", i.e. "That may fail to be true". But when permission is being expressed, the negation applies to the modal or entire verb phrase: You may not go now means "You are not permitted to go now" (except in rare cases where not and the main verb are both stressed to indicate that they go together: You may go or not go, whichever you wish).