English Language Learners Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for speakers of other languages learning English. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
what is the difference between the following in terms of meaning (potentiality/permission)
is it valid to say that 'may go' has greater certainty than 'may have gone' because of the certainty of present simple tense ? How do i then explain the difference between 2 and 3?
May as permission can only be stated in the present. In all other cases, it refers to potentiality.
As permission:
- May I go?
- Yes, you may go.
As potentiality:
I may go to the party. It all depends on how I feel.
Present:
He may be going there right now.
Future:
He may be going with us to the party tomorrow.
I didn't see her in the office. She may have gone to meet a client.
"May" is the modal auxiliary of present possibility. Infinitival verb after it is used in bare form without 'to'. In the examples there are the uses of an infinitive, a continuous infinitive and a perfect infinitive; hence the variations of meaning. Admitted that infinitives are tenseless but with modals ( say, 'may' as herein) and change of types they capture the aspects of happenings. Kate Bunting rightly noted the aspect of possibilities. However I am more inclined to say them all as present possibilities.
