Guest: May as well or might as well? Hi, ur question is too generalized to give an answer. it will be better if u give either reformat ur question or use some examples.. Junior Member 54 I think both are in fairly common usage. Maybe someone can tell us which is more grammatically correct. As 'ysk' said you may like to give an example ... go ahead, you might as well! Guest: I have had to think hard about this one.I think there is a slight difference. My experience is that most speakers (including myself) use "might". The word "may" seems to be dying out. But compare: "We may as well go shopping" with: "I might as well be dead". The first example is present tense. "We MAY...go shopping" (i.e. NOW). The second is subjunctive (relates to a hypothetical situation - "being dead"). The subjunctive modifies the verb, so that it resmbles the past tense ("If I WERE rich..." etc.) So, "MIGHT as well be dead". If in doubt, I think the safer course is to use "might", as this would be the choice of most "ordinary" English people (i.e. not professors of grammar!) Anonymous: : in formal grammar, "may" is the present tense of "might," so the phrase "I may as well" is, or should be used when the choice has not yet been made (and it usually is a choice where the option, as Beth said, is one of reluctance). For example, "Everyone is so late, I may as well go home," meaning you don't want to really, but at this point, going is just as good as staying. "Might" should be used for the past: "Everyone was so late, I might as well have gone home." Note that "might" implies that you didn't go home, whereas "may" implies that you are going to do such a thing. Hope this helps. May as well or might as well?I don't observe any difference in meaning whether you use one or the other, if that's what you're asking. I think many, if not most, people in the U.S. use "might as", pronounced "mize" thus: I mize well go. CJ "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Anonymous: The most frustrating and annoying thing about this topic is that the majority of people I know tend to say "mays well"! I cannot stand it! It's not a two word phrase/comment! Might as well or may as well people!! haha! Just saying. | |
© MediaCet Ltd. 2012, xC v7.1.4500.21922. All content posted by our users is a contribution to the public domain, this does not include imported usenet posts.* For web related enquires please contact us on webmaster@mediacet.com, status updates are available at status.mediacet.com. *Usenet post removal: Use 'X-No-Archive' or please send proof of the poster's email, we will remove immediately. Views expressed in this community do not reflect the views of MediaCet LTD, and we are in no way liable for such content. Offensive or malicious content will be removed immediately, please send an email to webmaster@mediacet.com |
All RSS Feeds