You know how you start noticing a lot of red cars on the road, especially after you just bought yourself a red car? That’s what has been happening to me lately: I’m noticing a lot of sentences that have the word “may” or the word “might” in them. It started when I wrote this:

I recall Emily saying that you guys may be able to let us view a whiteboard or something on Saturday . . .

 I’m not sure why, but I waffled between writing may and might. I started with might, and I sent the message using may. It’s been bugging me ever since. What is the difference between may and might?

And then the red-car scenario happened; I was getting hit with various messages and posts using both words:

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. . . there may have to be actions taken beyond the Congress . . .

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I was pretty sure there’s a correct way to use may and might in a sentence, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. So, I searched and found this:

• Use “may” when something is more likely to happen. 
• Use “might” if something is less likely to happen or in a hypothetical situation.

In the sentence I wrote about the whiteboard, I was correct in using the word may, because it was very likely that we would be able to view a whiteboard on Saturday.

If you need more explanations and examples on when to use may or might, you may find these sites useful in helping you understand the difference between the two words:

https://writingexplained.org/may-vs-might-difference

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=may+versus+might&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8#kpvalbx=_TtEBYNzHOdC40PEPwMK4-AM16

https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/vs/may-vs-might-grammar-guidelines-in-simple-terms.html

Judy Beebe, FSDA, serves as our resident Word Nerd author.

She currently serves as the SDA Seattle Chapter President.