Might em inglês

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Might

Might é o passado de may e nos permite expressar:

• a incerteza, a possibilidade ou a probabilidade (tem um significado semelhante a may, mas dá uma noção maior de incerteza):

The kids might be hungry. Pode ser que as crianças estejam com fome.

I thought you might like to have a cup of tea. Eu pensei que você gostaria de tomar uma xícara de chá.

• a permissão (para dar/pedir licença) num estilo muito cordial:

Might I ask you a question sir? Senhor, poderia lhe fazer uma pergunta?

• uma sugestão com um estilo cordial:

You might call him tomorrow. Você poderia ligar para ele amanhã.

Exercício 1

Polly: I have everything prepared for tomorrow. What could go wrong?
Horatio: Even if you feel confident, it smart to pray to the gods of bureaucratic stupidity.

Polly: I have everything prepared for tomorrow. What could possibly 1 go wrong?
Horatio: Even if you feel confident, it might be 2 smart to pray to the gods of bureaucratic stupidity.

1 possibly: 'Possibly' expresses the possibility or the chance that something could go wrong tomorrow. It is the best choice here.

1 possible: 'Possible' expresses possibility, but in this case we must use an adverb, and not an adjective. 'Possible' is grammatically incorrect here.

1 may: Although 'may' expresses possibility or chance, to say 'could may' would be grammatically incorrect.

1 might be: Although 'might be' expresses possibility, to say 'could might' is grammatically incorrect and redundant.

2 might be: 'Might be' expresses both possibility, and completes this sentence correctly. This sentence requires a verb (be) following the auxiliary which expresses possibility (might).

2 may: Although 'may' expresses possibility or chance, this sentence requires a verb following an auxiliary. 'May be' would work, but 'may' does not.

2 possible: 'Possible' is grammatically incorrect here. This sentence requires a verb following an auxiliary.

2 possibly: Although 'possibly' expresses possibility or chance, this sentence requires a verb following an auxiliary. 'possibly be' would work, but 'possibly' does not.

Exercício 2

Doctor: This isn't easy for me to say, Mr. Spitoon, but you have only a few days left to live.
Mr. Spitoon: Oh my. That's not very good.
Doctor: Also... I think I have accidentally dropped some chewing gum in your aorta.

Doctor: This isn't easy for me to say, Mr. Spitoon, but you might 1 have only a few days left to live.
Mr. Spitoon: Oh my. That's not very good.
Doctor: Also... I think I may 2 have accidentally dropped some chewing gum in your aorta.

1 might: We often use the auxiliary 'might' to express doubt or risk. "Might" can be used as the preterit form of 'may' and the two are typically synonymous. 'Might' is a little more emphatic. Example: I asked Horatio if I might smell the perfumes.

1 can: Although 'can' is grammatically incorrect here, it does not make much sense. If the doctor says 'you can have only a few days left to live', this means that the doctor 'decides' or 'allows' how long the patient will live.

1 have: 'You have have' is grammatically incorrect. We cannot use the same infinitive form of 'have' directly followed by another.

1 would: Although 'would' is grammatically correct here, the sentence is incomplete. We could say, however: 'You would have only a few days left to live, if you continue to act this way'.

2 may: We often use the auxiliary 'may' to express doubt or probability. Here it expresses the possibility that the doctor left his chewing gum in his patient's aorta. Example: He may have eaten a mouse by mistake.

2 had: 'I had have' is grammatically incorrect. 'I have had' is the present perfect, but it cannot be used here.

2 be: 'I be have' is grammatically incorrect.

2 will: 'Will have' is the future perfect tense, and it does not make sense here. The future perfect is usually used to express a future action that happens before another. For example: 'I will have finished all this wine by the time she gets home'.

Exercício 3

Associate each of the underlined terms with the sense that they express in the text below.

Polly: It looks like it might rain today. You should close your windows.
Luna: When I was young, I could predict the weather.
Polly: Luna, I would rather that you kept your bizarre childhood memories to yourself.

In this dialogue might indicates .
In this dialogue should indicates .
In this dialogue could indicates .
In this dialogue would rather indicates .

Associate each of the underlined terms with the sense that they express in the text below.

Polly: It looks like it might rain today. You should close your windows.
Luna: When I was young, I could predict the weather.
Polly: Luna, I would rather that you kept your bizarre childhood memories to yourself.

In this dialogue might indicates possibility 1.
In this dialogue should indicates suggestion 2.
In this dialogue could indicates ability 3.
In this dialogue would rather indicates preference 4.

1 possibility: Polly is talking about the chance or possibility that it will rain today. 'Might' often indicates uncertainty or chance. Example: I might get up early tomorrow, or I might sleep late.

1 preference: 'Might' never expresses a preference.

1 suggestion: 'Might' does not express suggestion in this context. However 'might' could express suggestion or a suggestion in a different context. Example: It you're still having problems, you might try re-booting your computer.

1 ability: 'Might' never expresses ability or capacity.

2 suggestion: Polly is giving advice to Luna, and suggesting that she close her windows because it might rain. 'Should' generally expresses strong suggestion. Example: You should hurry up and clean your office, Bruno is doing an inspection today.

2 possibility: 'Should' never expresses possibility. The modals which express possibility are 'might' and 'could'.

2 preference: 'Should' never expresses preference.

2 ability: 'Should' never expresses ability. 'Could' can be used to indicate capacity.

3 ability: Luna is talking about something she was able to do in the past (predicting the weather). 'Could' expresses ability or capacity as the past tense form of 'can'. Note that 'could' can also be used to indicate a conditional statement in another context.

3 possibility: 'Could' does not express possibility in this context. However, 'could' can express possibility in a different context. Example: If you need help, I could come to your house and we could work on the problem together.

3 preference: 'Could' never expresses preference.

3 suggestion: 'Could' never expresses suggestion.

4 preference: Polly is expressing that she prefers that Luna doesn't tell her stories about the past. 'I would rather' is a conditional statement which expresses preference.

4 possibility: 'Would' never expresses possibility. The modals which express preference are 'could' and 'might'.

4 ability: 'Would' does not express ability in this context. However, 'would' can express a regular action in the past. Example: When I was young I would steal candy from the drugstore.

4 suggestion: 'Would' never expresses suggestion. The modals which expresses 'suggestion' is 'should'.

Exercício 4

Complete the sentences below based on their meaning in the text.

Luna: Polly, I'm calling to tell you there is a chance the world will end today. Maybe this morning, or maybe this afternoon, I'm not certain.
Polly: Could you speak more slowly? I don't understand what you are talking about.
Luna: I warned everyone to listen carefully. But you all just laughed at me.

Luna says that the world end today.
Luna says that it happen this morning.
Polly suggests that if Luna speak more slowly, she might understand better.
Luna says that everyone have listened to her.

Complete the sentences below based on their meaning in the text.

Luna: Polly, I'm calling to tell you there is a chance the world will end today. Maybe this morning, or maybe this afternoon, I'm not certain.
Polly: Could you speak more slowly? I don't understand what you are talking about.
Luna: I warned everyone to listen carefully. But you all just laughed at me.

Luna says that the world might 1 end today.
Luna says that it could 2 happen this morning.
Polly suggests that if Luna would 3 speak more slowly, she might understand better.
Luna says that everyone should 4 have listened to her.

1 might: Luna states 'there is a chance the world will end today'. 'Might' often expresses possibility or uncertainty. Example: I might get up early tomorrow, or I might sleep late.

1 should: 'Should' generally expresses obligation or probability. However, Luna is expressing uncertainty or possibility here, as indicated by the phrase 'there is a chance'. 'Should' implies more certainty than Luna expresses in the dialogue.

1 would: 'Would' never expresses uncertainty or chance, it is generally used to form the conditional tense or to describe a regular action in the past.

2 could: Luna states that the world might end 'maybe this morning, or maybe this afternoon'. 'Maybe' indicates possibility in this context, and the modal 'could' can indicate this sense. 'Could' often expresses uncertainty, or the chance that something might occur. Example: I could tell you my secret, but then I would have to kill you.

2 should: 'Should' expresses strong suggestion or probability. Luna's statement indicates 'possibility' more than probability. If she had said 'I'm almost certain it will rain tomorrow', then we could say 'it should rain tomorrow'.

2 would: 'Would' never expresses uncertainty or chance. 'Would' is generally used to form the conditional tense and to pose polite questions. We could use 'would' here if there were a condition given in the sentence. For example: 'She said that if it did happen, it would happen this morning'. Using 'would' doesn't make sense if no condition is given.

3 would: In American English, would is often used in the if clause of a conditional structure, as is the case here (If + would followed by conditional might). It adds emphasis to the idea of Luna speaking more slowly. Note, in British English, If would be followed by the past tense when the conditional might appears in the second clause. The sentence would therefore read: 'If Luna spoke more slowly, Polly might understand better.'

3 should: 'Should' generally indicates strong suggestion, obligation or probability. 'Should' is never used to express 'possibility'.

3 might: 'Might' can be used to form the conditional tense, however 'might' generally expresses uncertainty. Example: I might get up early tomorrow, or I might sleep late.

4 should: 'Should' expresses suggestion or probability, and in certain cases obligation. Here Luna expresses that everybody 'should have' listened to her.

4 would: 'Would' never expresses suggestion or obligation to do something, it is generally used to form the conditional voice or ask polite questions.

4 could: 'Could' can be used as the past tense form of the auxiliary 'can' to express that someone was 'able' or 'capable' of doing something. Although using 'could' here is grammatically correct, 'could' does not fit the context of the dialogue. Luna advised or strongly suggested that everyone listen to her. It is unlikely that she is saying that everyone 'was able to' listen to her.

Exercício 5