# He may do it, he might do it **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 12, 2017, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-may-do-it-he-might-do-it/788747 "2017-06-12T02:26:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-may-do-it-he-might-do-it/788747/42 "2017-06-14T22:24:45Z")
You just showed me that I never used “Might”. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-may-do-it-he-might-do-it/788747/43 "2017-06-14T22:32:20Z")
> [@SigMan](#): > > You just showed me that I never used “Might”. Or that “might” makes right? In seriousness though, the reason I asked whether those examples all sound wrong to you is that I wondered whether it was a British usage. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-may-do-it-he-might-do-it/788747/44 "2017-06-14T22:59:43Z")
> [@SigMan](#): > > “Might I have a moment of your time?” doesn’t sound right to me. It sounds “right” to me but a bit formal and archaic. It’s a line I might expect to read in a Sherlock Holmes novel. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-may-do-it-he-might-do-it/788747/45 "2017-06-19T01:31:01Z")
The worst is: “Do you know anything about John’s plans with respect to the trip?” “Well, I think his mother said he may not go.” Does this mean his mother is not allowing him to go, or is she expressing the possibility that he might not go? ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-may-do-it-he-might-do-it/788747/46 "2017-06-19T01:44:29Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > The worst is: > > “Do you know anything about John’s plans with respect to the trip?” > “Well, I think his mother said he may not go.” > > Does this mean his mother is not allowing him to go, or is she expressing the possibility that he might not go? That’s a good question. “May” does suggest permissive while “might” is decision. That’s the same impression I got with: “Might I have a moment of your time?” doesn’t sound right to me. This question is asking permission so I thought “may” fits. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-may-do-it-he-might-do-it/788747/47 "2017-06-19T02:11:45Z")
If it is verbal, you can extract meaning from inflection. “_Well, I think his mother said he may **not** go_,” emphasis on the negative, suggests lack of permission. “_Well, I think his mother said he m a y not go_,” with a rising tone, drawing out or sometimes just emphasis on “may” suggests decision. Those, of course, cannot be expressed in writing, where the meaning is, AFAICT, completely ambiguous. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-may-do-it-he-might-do-it/788747.md?page=2)