Значение и употребление глагола may (might)

№ n/n	Значение или употребление	Тип предложения	Инфинитив	Пример	Перевод
may
1.	Разрешение	Утвердительное, вопросительное	Неперфектный, общего вида	You may go. May I help you?	Можешь идти. Разрешите вам помочь?
2.	Запрещение	Отрицательное	Неперфектный, общего вида	You may not come here.	Не смей сюда приходить.
3.	Предположение, возможность	Утвердительное, отрицательное	Любой	They may be arriving. They may not have arrived.	Может быть, они подъезжают. Возможно, они не приехали.
might
1.	Упрек	Утвердительное	Любой	You might help me.	Ты мог бы мне помочь.

Exercises

1. Fill in the gaps with may or might.

1. _____ I invite Nick to our house?

2. You _____ go now.

3. If you have done your work, you ____ go for a walk.

4. _____ I go to the post-office with Mike?

5. It stopped raining, and mother told us that we ____ go out.

6. _____ children play with scissors?

7. Our father said that we _____ go to the cinema.

8. I thought that I _____ watch TV.

9. We asked the teacher if we ______ use dictionaries.

2. Write these sentences in a different way using may or might.

1. Perhaps Margaret is in her office. She might be in her office.

2. Perhaps Margaret is busy.

3. Perhaps she is working.

4. Perhaps she wants to be alone.

5. Perhaps she was ill yesterday.

6. Perhaps she went home early.

7. Perhaps she had to go home early

8. Perhaps she was working yesterday.

In sentences 9-11 use may not or might not.

9. Perhaps she doesn't want to see me.

10. Perhaps she isn't working today.

11. Perhaps she wasn't feeling well yesterday.

3. Write sentences with might or might not

1. (its possible that I'll go to the cinema) I___

2. (its possible that I'll see you tomorrow)

3. (its possible that Ann will forget to phone)

4. (it's possible that it will snow today)

5. (it's possible that I'll be late tonight)

6. (it's possible that Mary will not be here)

7. (it's possible that I won't have time to meet you)

4. Paraphrase the sentences using the verb may

1. It’s possible to see the city from the top of a bus.

2. It’s possible to get to the centre of the city by the underground.

3. It’s possible to buy a ticket at the railway station.

4. It’s possible to get the book from our Institute.

5. It’s possible for anyone to be wrong.

6. It’s possible for anyone to make mistakes.

7. It’s possible for anyone to be sick.

8. It’s possible to see many beautiful buildings in the city.

9. It’s possible to buy this book at any bookstore.

10. It’s possible to go skiing there.

11. It’s possible to spend a quiet evening at home.

12. It’s possible for us to read for our exams together.

13. It’s possible for us to go shopping together.

14. It’s possible to see the sea from here in good weather.

15. It’s possible to walk miles in this district without seeing a house.

5. Read the situations and make sentences from the words in brackets. Use may or might.

1. I can't find George anywhere. I wonder where he is.

a. (he / go / shopping) He may have gone shopping.

b. (he / play / tennis) He might be playing tennis.

2. I'm looking for Helen. Do you know where she is?

a. (she / watch / TV / in her room)

b. (she / go / out)

3. I can't find my umbrella. Have you seen it?

a. (it/ be/ in the car)

b. (you / leave / in the restaurant last night)

4. Why didn't Tom answer the doorbell? I'm sure he was in the house at the time.

a. (he / be / in the bath)

b. (he / not / hear / the bell)

6. Complete the sentences using might not or couldn't.

1 A: Do you think she saw you?

B: No, she was too far away. She could not have seen me.

2. A: I wonder why she didn't say hello. Perhaps she didn't see me.

B: That's possible. She…

3. A: I wonder why Ann didn't come to the party. Perhaps she wasn't invited.

B: Yes, it's possible. She…

4. A: Tom loves parties. I'm sure he would have come to the party if he'd been invited.

B: I agree. He…

5. A: I wonder how the fire started. Do you think it was an accident?

B: No, the police say it…

6. A: How did the fire start? I suppose it was an accident.

B: Well, the police aren't sure. They say it…

7. Write sentences with may or might.

1. Where are you going for your holidays? (to Ireland???) I haven't decided yet. I may go to Ireland.

2. What sort of car are you going to buy? (a Mercedes???) I'm not sure yet. I…

3. What are you doing this weekend? (go to London???) I haven't decided yet. I…

4. Where are you going to hang that picture? (in the dining room???) I haven't made up my mind yet…

5. When is Tom coming to see us? (on Saturday???) I don't know yet.

6. What is Julia going to do when she leaves school? (go to university???) She hasn't decided yet…

8. Complete the sentences using might + one of these verbs:

bite break need rain slip wake

1. Take an umbrella with you when you go out. It___later.

2. Don't make too much noise. You___the baby.

3. Be careful of that dog. It___you.

4. I don't think we should throw that letter away. We___it later.

5. Be careful. The footpath is very icy. You___

6. I don't want the children to play in this room. They___something.

9. Translate from Russian into English using may.

1. Если ты не наденешь пальто, ты можешь заболеть. 2. Не уходи из дома: мама может скоро прийти, а у нее нет ключа. 3. Будь осторожен: ты можешь упасть. 4. Не трогай собаку: она может укусить тебя. 5. Мы, может быть, поедем за город в воскресенье. 6. Он может забыть об этом. 7. Скоро может пойти дождь. 8. Можно мне войти? 9. Можно, я пойду гулять? 10. Если твоя работа готова, можешь идти домой. 11. Доктор говорит, что я уже могу купаться. 12. Папа сказал, что мы можем идти в кино одни. 13. Я думал, что мне можно смотреть телевизор. 14. Где они сейчас живут? – Они, может быть, живут сейчас за границей, но я не очень уверена.

10. Complete the sentences using might be able to or might have to + a suitable verb.

I can't help you but why don't you ask Jill? She ___ you.

I can't meet you this evening but I ___ you tomorrow evening.

I'm not working on Saturday but I ___ on Sunday.

George isn't well. He ___ to hospital for an operation.

11. Read the situations and make sentences with may/might as well.

1. You and a friend have just missed the bus. The buses run every hour. You say: We'll have to wait an hour for the next bus. We might as well walk.

2. You have a free ticket for a concert. You're not very keen on the concert but you decide to go. You say: I ___ to the concert. It's a pity to waste a free ticket.

3. You’re in a cafe with a friend. You've finished your drinks. It's a nice cafe and there is no reason to go now, so why not have another drink? You say: We ___ What would you like?

4. You and a friend are at home. You are bored. There's a film on TV starting in a few minutes. You say: ___ There's nothing else to do.

12. Paraphrase these notices to give or refuse permission. Begin each sentence with “You…”

1. Do not feed the animals.

2. No smoking.

3. Private. Keep out.

4. Do not walk on the grass.

5. Campers welcome.

6. Leave your litter here.

7. No parking on the square.

8. Visitors welcome 24 hours a day.

13. Translate from Russian into English using the expression to be allowed to.

1. Курить воспрещается. 2. Ему не позволили курить у них в доме. 3. В Англии вам разрешат водить машину, если вам 17 лет. 4. В США вам разрешают продолжать ездить на машине даже в возрасте 90 лет. 5. Мне разрешают пользоваться папиным магнитофоном. 6. Дети уже большие. Им разрешают ходить в школу одним. 7. Ему не разрешают купаться в этой реке. 8. Вчера ей позволили прийти домой в 10 часов. 9. Нам не позволяют разговаривать на уроках. 10. Тебе позволили взять эту книгу? 11. Я думаю, мне не разрешат поехать с тобой за город. 12. Тебе разрешат пойти гулять, когда ты сделаешь уроки? 13. Тебе разрешали ходить на озеро, когда ты был маленький? 14. Когда мне разрешат есть мороженое?

14. Give uncertain answers to the following questions.

Example: Where is Sue going? (to the theatre). She may be going to the theatre.

1. Where are you going for your holidays? (Switzerland)

2. Why didn’t Ann answer the doorbell? (go to bed early)

3. Where is the meat I left on the table? (the cat, steal it)

4. Where is George? (play tennis)

5. How did the fire start? (Someone, drop a cigarette)

6. Why is Peter late? (miss the train)

7. Why didn’t Mary come to see us? (fall ill)

8. Who was that man? (Mr. Smith)

9. When do you expect them to come? (arrive next week)

10. Whose book is this? (Nina’s or not)

11. When did he finish his work? (a day or two ago)

15. Open the brackets using the correct form of the infinitive. Translate the sentences into Russian.

1. He may (to have) a lot of experience but he is not easy to deal with.

2. We had better drop the subject. She may not (to get) over the shock yet.

3. He may still (to hesitate) about the offer, you should help him to make a decision.

4. You might (to guess) he did not want to speak to you.

5. He may (to be) powerless to change anything, it wasn’t like him to act against his principles.

6. You might (to consult) the doctor a long time ago; by putting off your visit to the doctor you make things still worse.

7. He may (to know) him a long time, yet he doesn’t know him at all.

8. What is John doing now? He may (to sleep) still, for all I know.

9. I may (to sit) thus an hour or so, I lost all sense of time but it was quite dark in the room when I was brought to my senses by the door bell.

10. You might (to punish) him somehow to make him realize his guilt. He behaves as if he were a hero.

16. Use one of the modal verbs in brackets to fill each gap.

1. They (can/might)___be away for the weekend but I’m not sure.

2. You (may/might)________________ leave now if you wish.

3. (Could/May)________________ you open the window a bit, please?

4. He (can/could)________________ be from Sheffield, judging by his accent.

5. (May/Can)________________ you swim?

6. Listen, please. You (may not/might not)________________ speak during this exam.

7. They (can't/may not)________________ still be out!

8. You (couldn't/might not)________________ smoke on the bus.

9. With luck, tomorrow (can/could)________________ be a cooler day.

10. You (can/might)________________ be right but I'm going back to check the times.

17. Express disapproval/ reproach based on the following sentences. Use the perfect infinitive to refer the situation to the past.

Example: 1) You do not remember your child’s birthday.

You might remember your child’s birthday.

2) You did not switch off the lights before leaving.

You might have switched off the lights before leaving.

1. You do not wear your new suit to the office.

2. You did not sew the buttons on, Alice.

3. You did not even notice how well she played. You do not pay attention to your child.

4. Do come and help me choose it.

5. You did not try hard enough.

6. You did not get up a little earlier and help me to clean up after the party.

7. You never let me know when something like this happens.

8. You didn’t give a detailed account.

9. You did not meet her at the station.

10. You always leave your room in disorder.

18. Paraphrase the sentences using the verb may

1) Depending on the algorithm that is being applied, perhaps it is the information that has been in the cache the longest or the information that is the least recently used.

2) If you use it heavily it is possible that you want to extend or develop or fix bugs in it.

3) Though it is possible that speech recognition is never a complete replacement for other input devices, future interfaces will offer a combination of input devices, a concept known as multimodal input.

4) Perhaps the tag includes the performer’s name, a graphic such as an album cover, the song’s lyrics, the musical genre, and a URL for more details.

5) It is possible that this device also reroutes the message to avoid congestion on the network.

6) Perhaps other people use IMAP4 to retrieve mail, especially where bandwidth is limited or expensive.

7) It is possible your website is shock full of information about your company and its products, but if visitors to the site can’t easily find their way around its pages perhaps they never return.

8) Perhaps the virus also contains a payload that remains dormant until a trigger event activates it, such as the user pressing a particular key.

9) An icon on a display screen is possibly called “Triangles”.

10) If the user right clicks the mouse on “Right triangle”, it is possible a voice clip explains the properties of right triangles.

MUST

Модальный глагол must имеет только форму настоящего времени.

1) Must выражает моральный долг, внутреннюю обязанность произвести действие в настоящем или будущем времени. В этом значении must употребляется в утвердительных и вопросительных предложениях с обычным инфинитивом:

I must go. Мне нужно идти. (Я должен идти.)

This is a vast problem that must Это огромная проблема, которую нужно

be broken down into many smaller разбить на много маленьких.

сhunks.

В отрицательных предложениях для передачи отсутствия необходимости употребляется другой модальный глагол – need.

“Must I go there?” - Мне нужно пойти туда?

“No, you needn’t. “ - Нет, не нужно.

Значение долженствования, зависящего от обстоятельств по отношению к будущему или к прошлому, может передаваться эквивалентом глагола must – глаголом have to, который переводится на русский язык словами придется, пришлось:

I had to read the book again. Мне пришлось перечитать эту книгу.

I will have to make another Мне придется сделать еще один чертеж,

drawing as this one is inaccurate. так как этот неточный.

2) В отрицательном предложении must передает значение запрещения производить действие:

You mustn’t do it! Не смей это делать!

You mustn’t draw three Нельзя чертить три хорды в одной

chords in a circle. окружности.

3) В сочетании с любой формой инфинитива must служит для выражения вероятности какого-либо действия, предположения близкого к уверенности:

It must have been love. Должно быть, это была любовь.

The theorem must have been Должно быть, теорема была выведена

deduced in another way. по-другому.

В сочетании с must неперфектный инфинитив общего и длительного вида показывает, что действие относится к настоящему, а перфектный инфинитив общего и длительного вида показывает, что действие относится к прошлому.