Verb may

Modal Verb /

Its Equivalent

Uses

Present / Future

Past

May

1. polite request

• May I borrow your pen?

2. formal

permission

• You may leave the room.

◘ (asking for)

formal

permission

• May I use your phone?

◘ (giving /

refusing)

formal

permission

• You may stay a little longer.

• Rubbish may not be left here.

3. possibility /

probability

• It may rain tomorrow.

• He may be back before noon. (It’s possible.)

4. less than 50%

certainty

• - Where’s John?

- He may be at the

library.

• He may have been at the library.

Might

1. polite request

(rare)

• Might I borrow your pen?

2. (asking for)

formal

permission

• Might I see your driving licence, please?

3. possibility /

probability

• It might rain tomorrow.

• There might be some cheese in the fridge. (It’s possible.)

4. less than 50%

certainty

• - Where’s John?

- He might be at the

library.

• He might have been at the library.

5. reproach

• You might think about someone else.

• You might have helped the old woman to carry the bag.

Be allowed to /

Be permitted to

(May borrows the rest of its tenses from its equivalents

be allowed to /

be permitted to.)

• He has not been allowed to enter the building.

1. permission

• Students are allowed to use the university swimming pool free of charge.

• The reporter will be allowed to take a photo of the pop singer.

• The foreigner wasn’t allowed to enter the country without a visa.

• Visitors are not permitted to feed animals in the zoo.

• The child will not be permitted to go for a walk until he recovers from the flu.

• They were permitted to go home.

a.Present

b.Past

c. Future