the modal verb “may”

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I’m a very indecisive person and today I’m going to teach you how to express possibility in English ☺

Let’s start with the modal verbs “may” and “might”.

The modal verb “may” indicates possibility.

For example,

I may have pizza for dinner tonight.
Probabilmente cenerò pizza questa sera.

It may rain this weekend.
Può piovere questo weekend.

Here you can use the modal verb “might” instead of “may” and say:

I might have pizza for dinner tonight.

It might rain this weekend.

Here “may” is slightly more formal than “might”.
In queste frasi, “may” è un po’ più formale di “might”.

We sometimes use the adverbs “maybe” and “perhaps” to express possibility. “Perhaps” is more formal than “maybe”.

When referring to possible future events like the ones in the examples above, we use these adverbs followed by the future with “will”.
Quando ci riferiamo a possibili eventi futuri come quelli degli esempi di prima, questi avverbi vanno seguiti dal futuro con “will”.

Look…

Perhaps I will have pizza for dinner tonight.
or
Maybe I will have pizza for dinner tonight.
Forse cenerò pizza questa sera.

Perhaps it will rain this weekend.
or
Maybe it will rain this weekend.
Forse pioverà questo weekend.

Hopefully it won’t rain this weekend!
Speriamo che non piove questo weekend!

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