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Subject:Re: 'Might' vs. 'may' From:Jan Bates <bates -at- KINGFISH -dot- ATT -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 17 Oct 1994 13:07:00 GMT
In my former life as an ESL teacher, I used to tell my students
to use 'may' for permission, 'can' for ability, and 'might' for
possibility. Of course that only solved the problem of choosing
a word when expressing an idea. It was (is) awfully hard to cram
every use into such a straightjacket.
Jan
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P.S. My pet peeve about English usage is using would have instead
of had in a past conditional: If I would have known, I would have ...
Jan Bates Voice: 908 949-2311
ADSS - AT&T Bell Labs Fax: 908 949-4001
Holmdel NJ e-mail: bates -at- kingfish -dot- att -dot- com
