3-33. Отрицание и вопросы с may/might

 
ОТРИЦАНИЕ

Необходимо помнить о разнице в употреблении may/might not (= ‘perhaps ... not ...’) и can/could not (часто означает ‘it is certain that ... not...’)

You might win. (= Perhaps you will win.)
You might not win. (= Perhaps you won't win.)
You can't win. (= You certainly won't win.)

She may be at home. (= Perhaps she is at home.)
She may not be at home. (= Perhaps she is not at home.)
She can't be at home. (= She is certainly not at home.)

It may/might not rain tomorrow. (= Perhaps it will not rain.)
It can't/couldn't possibly rain tomorrow. (= It will certainly not rain.)

It may not be true. (= Perhaps it is not true.)
It can't be true. (= It is certainly not true.)

He may/might not have understood. (= Perhaps he did not understand.)
He can't/couldn't have understood. (= He certainly did not understand.)

ВОПРОСЫ

В значении, выражающем предположение may не употребляется в прямых вопросах:

Do you think you'll go to the Alps? (не ‘May you go...?’)

Are you likely to go camping this summer? (не ‘may you go camping...?’)
Are you likely to be in Spain again this summer? (не ‘May you be in Spain...?’)
Has Emma gone shopping, I wonder? (не ‘May Emma have gone shopping? ’)
Could it be that you don't want to leave? (не ‘may it be that you...?’)

Но may может употребляться в косвенных вопросах (когда вопрос выражается придаточным предложением – например, после ‘Do you think...’).

Do you think you may go camping this summer?

Might может употребляться и в прямых вопросах, но это звучит формально:

Might you go camping? (более естественно: ‘Do you think you may/might...?’)
Might they be persuaded to change their minds?

■ May и might могут выражать и возможность и вероятность:

You may/might walk miles and miles through the forest without meeting anyone.

■ May/might может употребляться, выражая цель или результат в придаточных предложениях с глаголами ‘hope’, ‘trust’, ‘fear’ и т.п. после ‘that’ и ‘so that’ (как правило, есть оттенок случайности). Такие конструкции звучат достаточно литературно и в разговорной речи вместо них употребляются обороты с will/would:

I trust that this arrangement may (will) meet with your approval.
Не trusted that the arrangement might (would) meet with our approval.
I hope he may succeed (succeeds/ will succeed).
I hoped he might succeed (would succeed).

■ Употребляется оборот may/might ... but:

He may be clever, but he hasn't got much common sense.
It may be a comfortable car, but it uses a lot of petrol.
She might have had a lovely voice when she was younger, but...
The painting may not be a masterpiece, but you've got to admit that the colours are striking.
She might not have danced very gracefully, but she had a lot of energy and enthusiasm.

В этом обороте may/might может относится к тому, что является фактом, а не предположением:

You may be my boss, but that doesn't mean you're better than me.

■ Оборот may/might as well выражает идею, что можно что-то сделать просто за неимением лучшего:

- Where shall we go tonight?
- I don't know. Any ideas?
- Well, there's a party at Brigs. A lot of people will be there.
- We [might as well go] there then. There's nothing else to do.

We [may as well go] to the party. We've nothing else to do.
Shall we go shopping now? - We [might as well].
There's nobody interesting to talk to. We [may as well go] home.
I'll have to wait half an hour for the next train, so I [might as well walk].

(в таком обороте разницы между may и might почти нет).

Might as well употребляется также, чтобы сравнить две одинаково непривлекательные возможности:

This holiday isn't much fun. We [might just as well be] back home (ничего не потеряем).
You never listen – I [might as well talk] to a brick wall.