• In Reported speech:

• He told me that I might smoke in the room.

• He asked me if he might join us. = Он спросил, можно ли ему присоединиться к нам.

• You have to use ‘be allowed to’ to supply the missing forms of the verb ‘may’, and when the action was permitted and performed.

• Teachers will be allowed to decide for themselves. Учителя смогут решать сами. (Им будет разрешено.)

• They haven’t been allowed to come. Им не разрешили прийти.

• Mrs. James is in hospital and has not been allowed to have any visitors.

• I shall be allowed to attend lectures at the University. Мне можно будет посещать лекции в Университете (= разрешат).

• We were allowed to read the book in Russian. Нам можно было прочитать эту книгу на русском (= разрешили).

2. Prohibition. It is used in negative sentences; ‘may not’ = ‘are not allowed to’

• ‘may’ in Russian corresponds to ‘нельзя’, ‘не смей’

• ‘may’ is seldom used to express prohibition.

• ‘mustn’t’, ‘can’t’, ‘don’t’ – are often used to express prohibition instead of ‘may not’

• You may not go swimming (= you are not allowed). Не смей ходить купаться.

• You may not enter the room until I say so. Не смей входить в комнату ...

• Guests may not use the pool (бассейн) after 11 p.m. (formal)

• You may not smoke in the corridors. (formal)

• Cf. May I open the window? - No, you may not. Нет, нельзя; не смей (actual prohibition).

– No, you mustn’t. Нельзя, запрещено; не должен, не надо (отказ в разрешении, prohibition is determined by the circumstances, facts, rules and doesn’t depend on the will of the person addressed).

– No, you can’t. I’m sorry, you can’t. Нельзя, не надо (= it is impossible; more colloquial. It denotes the absence of possibility depending on circumstances, rules, laws, etc).

– No, you don’t, please; I’m afraid not. Нет, не открывай (it is rather asking somebody not to do something).

3. Request (may I ..., might I ..., may we ..., might we ...)

• ‘may’ is more formal and polite than ‘can’ and ‘could’

• May I trouble you for the dictionary? – Certainly.

• May I help you? – Of course you may.

• When may we leave? May we leave early?

• ‘might’ expresses a more polite request and is quite formal; it is used much less frequently than ‘can’, ‘could’ or ‘may’

• Might I use your telephone? – Of course you may. (not: – Of course you might.)

• I wonder if I might/could use your telephone. – No, you may not, I’m afraid.

• Do you think I might/could borrow your book?

• Might I possibly be allowed to smoke here? (Requests may be overcautious (перестраховочный) or obsequious (подобострастный, раболепный)

• ‘may’, ‘might’ are used only with I or we in polite requests

  • May I have some coffee? (May you give me some coffee? – is incorrect)

  • Will you pass the salt? (May you pass the salt? – is incorrect)

• In practice ‘can, could and may’ are often interchangeable in ‘neutral’ requests.

• Commonest responses with modals are:

affirmative: Of course you can./Of course you may. (not: could/might)

negative: No, you can’t/ No, you may not. (not: could not/might not)

• Non-modal responses are:

‘Certainly’/‘Of course’/‘Why not?’/‘No, I'm afraid you can't.’/‘I’m afraid not’/‘I’d rather you didn’t’

4a. Possibility = general possibility; ‘may’; (‘might’ is not used.)

• the action refers to the present or future

• ‘may’ is used only in affirmative sentences with the Indefinite Infinitive

• ‘might’ is used only in indirect speech (though ‘could’ is preferable in this case)

• You may see him every morning walking with his child.

• You may still hear this expression used by older people.

• You may order a taxi by telephone.

• Over-prescribing of antibiotics may lead to the rapid development of resistant

strains (стойкое переутомление). (In scientific and academic English we may use ‘may’ to describe things which are generally possible)

• He said that he might/could order a taxi by telephone.

• He said I might take his book. Он сказал, что я могу взять его книгу.

• He said that he might/could trust her.

4b. Factual, specific possibility; supposition implying doubt (предположение, основанное на неуверенности); uncertainty (сомнение, неуверенность)

• We use ‘may’/‘might’ in affirmative and negative sentences with all forms of the Infinitive; the time reference is indicated by the form of the Infinitive; the form ‘might’ expresses greater doubt and uncertainty

• The meaning is similar to ‘it is possible’, ‘perhaps’, ‘maybe’, ‘it is likely’. We use ‘may’/‘might’ to show that something is possible in a specific situation.

• In this meaning we can also use ‘could’ (not ‘can’) in affirmative sentences

• In Russian it corresponds to: возможно, может быть; возможно не, может быть не

• It may be true. or It might be true. Возможно, это правда./Это может быть правдой.

• The weather forecast is not very good. It may rain tomorrow (= Perhaps, it will rain tomorrow) Может быть, завтра будет дождь. /Может пойти дождь завтра.

• He might come soon. (= Maybe, he will come soon.) Он, может быть, и придет скоро./Он может прийти завтра.

• He may not know that you are here. (= Perhaps, he doesn’t know that you are here) Возможно, он не знает, что вы здесь./Он может не знать, что вы здесь.

• Where is Bob? – He may be in his office. (= perhaps he is in his office)/He might be having lunch. (= perhaps he is having lunch)/Ask Ann. She might know. (= perhaps she knows)

• The shops may not/might not be open today; it’s a bank holiday. (= Perhaps, they are not open.)

• We may go to Australia next Christmas. (= It is possible that we will go to Australia next Christmas.)

• They may arrive tomorrow or the day after. Может быть, они прибудут завтра или послезавтра.

• They may have arrived already, I’m not sure. Может быть, они уже и приехали, я не уверен.

• They may have been discussing the question for two hours. Может быть, они уже два часа обсуждают вопрос.

• Your friend might still come, but I don’t think he will. Ваш друг мог бы еще прийти, но я не уверен, что он придет.

• He is in the room. He may/might be reading. Он, возможно, читает.

• I’m not sure if I’m available; I may be working that weekend.

• He may have been at home for about two hours. Он, возможно, был дома около двух часов.

• She might have done it; she had the opportunity and the motive. (= Perhaps she did it; ...)

• He may not have got my telegram. Возможно/может быть, он не отправил телеграмму.

• We had better phone them, they might not have heard the news. (= Perhaps they haven’t heard the news.)

• They may have been discussing the question for an hour.

• They may have decided to stay for the night there.

• He might not have met her at the party.

• Where is Mary? – She may/might have gone shopping. – She could have gone shopping. Она могла уйти за покупками. /Она, возможно, ушла за покупками.

• If it gets colder tomorrow, it may/might/could snow.

• In spoken English we often contract ‘might not’ to ‘mightn’t’. We don’t usually contract ‘may not’; the contracted form ‘mayn’t’ is very rare.

• might is normally a little less sure than may; could is normally less sure than may or might:

+ + + may + + might + could

• Sally may be teaching. (50% certain, it’s possible that she is teaching.)

• You might need to come tomorrow. (40 % certain, perhaps you need to come tomorrow.)

• She could be angry. (40% certain, it’s possible she is angry.)

• Certainty (несомненный факт) and possibility (возможность)

a certain fact (точный факт) (expressed by verb tenses)	a possibility/possible/less than certain (expressed by ‘may, might, could’)
If we are certain of our facts, we can make statements with ‘be’ or any full verb: Jane is at home. Jane works at home.	If we are referring to possibility, we can use combinations of ‘may, might, could’ + verb: Jane may/might/could be at home. Jane may/might/could work at home.
He is at home. He will be at home tomorrow. He was at home yesterday. He leaves at 9. He will leave tomorrow. He has left. He left last night. He will have left by 9. He is working today. He will be working today. He was working today. He has been working all day. He will have been working all day.	He may/might/could be at home. He may/might/could be at home tomorrow. He may/might/could have been at home yesterday. He may/might/could leave at 9. He may/might/could leave tomorrow. He may/might/could have left. He may/might/could have left last night. He may/might/could have left by 9. He may/might/could be working today. He may/might/could be working today. He may/might/could have been working today. He may/might/could have been working all day. He may/might/could have been working all day.

Note 1: Supposition or uncertainty/possibility in questions is rendered by: