2020-11-03 ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด M – May & maybe & may be

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2020-11-03

ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด M – May & maybe & may be

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Dictionary.com

ออกเสียง May = ‘MEY’

ออกเสียง Maybe = ‘MEY-bee’

Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree

might

force; strength; past tense of may

Not to be confused with:

mite – tiny particle; an insect; a small amount

Dictionary.com

USAGE FOR MAY

It was formerly considered correct

to use may rather than can when referring to permission

as in: you may use the laboratory for your experiments,

but this use of may is now almost entirely restricted to polite questions

such as: may I open the window?

The use of may with if in constructions

such as: your analysis may have been more more credible if …

is generally regarded as incorrect,

might being preferred: your analysis might have been more credible if

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language,

May

Usage Note: May or might?

In many situations,

the choice between these two verbs

can be clarified by remembering that might is the past tense form of may,

and that in English,

a past tense form is used to refer

not just to events that occurred in the past (She left yesterday),

but to hypothetical, counterfactual, or remotely possible situations

(If you left now, you'd get there on time.)

Thus, the past tense form might is appropriatein this sentence

about a future event that is a remote possibility:

If I won the lottery, I might buy a yacht,

which contrasts with the present-tense version that indicates an open possibility:

If I win the lottery, I may buy a yacht.

When referring to a hypothetical or contrary-to-fact situation in the past,

rather than an imagined future situation,

the verbs are shifted to the remote past:

won becomes had won, and might buy becomes might have bought:

If I had won the lottery, I might have bought a yacht.

Since about the 1960s, however,

people have started using may have where might have would be expected

(as in, If he hadn't tripped, he may have won the race).

Although this usage is common in casual speech,

it is considered unacceptable by the majority of the Usage Panel.

In our 2012 survey, 97 percent of the Usage Panelists foundthe sentence

If John Lennon had not been shot, the Beatles might have gotten back together acceptable.

Only a third of the Panel (32 percent) approved of the same sentence

with may have replacing might have.

Using may have for a past counterfactual situation instead of might have is not only frowned upon by the Panel but can also lead to confusion, since may have is best suited for a different kind of situation: present uncertainty about a past situation. Keeping the two forms distinct reduces ambiguity. He may have drowned, for example, is best used to mean that it is unknown whether the man drowned, not that the man narrowly escaped drowning. When may and might are used to indicate possibility or probability, as in He may lose his job or We might go on vacation next year, the two words are used almost interchangeably.

It is sometimes said that might suggests a lower probability than may,

perhaps because of its use in hypothetical statements that omit the conditional clause

(You might get there on time can be thought of as short for If you hurried, you might get there on time). In practice, however, few people make this distinction.

Our Living Language In many Southern US varieties of English,

might can be paired with other auxiliary verbs

such as could, as in We might could park over there.

Words like might and could are known as modals,

since they express certain "moods"

(for example, I might go indicates an uncertain mood on the part of the speaker).

Combinations such as might could, might would, and might can

are known as double modals.

Other less common combinations

include may can, may will, and might should.

Since double modals typically begin with may or might,

they lessen the degree of conviction or certainty

(much like the word possibly) more than a single modal does.

Double modals are used, for example, to minimize the force of what one is saying,

as when asking someone for a favor or when indicating displeasure.

Although double modals may sound odd outside of the South,

they carry little if any social stigma within the South

and are used by speakers of all social classes and educational levels

—even in formal instances like political addresses.

Like many features of Southern varieties of English,

the use of double modals is probably due tothe fact that

many of the first English speakers in the South were Scotch-Irish,

whose speech made use of double modals.

Dictionary.com

How Did The Month Of May Get Its Name?

May mays seem like a little simple name,

but its origin is actually fairly complex and interesting.

Sit back and read up on this little word’s … big history.

What does May mean?

The fifth month of the Gregorian calendar,

May, is defined as “the fifth month of the year, containing 31 days.”

Got it. But where did this name come from?

The name for the month of May—along with the rest of the months of the year

—comes from Latin. We can thank the Romans, from emperors to popes, for instituting the modern calendar.

May entered English in the 1050s. It developed from the Old English Maius, borrowed directly from the Latin Maius, short for Maius mēnsis, “Maia’s month.” But who is this Maia?

The Greek goddess Maia was one of the Pleiades, the companions of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. This Maia was the mother of Hermes, the messenger of the Gods. But the Romans had yet another goddess named Maia, who just happened to share a name with the Greek goddess.

The Greek goddess became conflated with the Roman Maia Majesta, a goddess of fertility and spring—appropriate for the growth and increase we see in the month of May.

Want to dig a little deeper? The Greek name Maia comes from a root meaning “mother, nurse, midwife.” The Roman Maia appears to be related to magnus, meaning “great” and source of such words as magnify.

May vs. may?

That there is a month, May,

and an auxiliary verb, may, is a small linguistic coincidence, not a meaningful overlap.

The verb may came from the Old English mæg, ultimately related to a Germanic root meaning “to be able, to be strong, to have power.”

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Other Ways To Say “To Whom It May Concern”

It’s frustrating to hit a stumbling block right at the beginning.

And yet, every time we start to write a letter, we’re faced with a tricky question at the very start—how do we address the recipient?

Is it someone we know well (Mom will do just fine for you-know-who)?

Is it someone we know professionally?

Or—cue the horror music!

—is it some unidentified person who’ll be reviewing our application, request, or materials?

We know you’re tensing up just thinking about it.

One classic choice (as we no doubt know)

is To Whom It May Concern.

But are you using this phrase correctly? It sounds so outdated—is it still in use?

And are there any alternatives?

Where does the phrase come from?

To Whom It May Concern is used in formal letters,

when the name of the person you are addressing is not known.

It can also be found as the salutation at the start of open letters,

or a letter meant to be read by a wide variety of people.

It is thought To Whom It May Concern entered common usage in the late 1800s.

There are examples in letters from this period by both Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth.

The correct way to use To Whom It May Concern

Each word in the phrase To Whom It May Concern should be capitalized.

Since it’s a formal greeting, it should be followed by a colon in a letter.

For example:

To Whom It May Concern:

I wholeheartedly recommend Jo March, who has been working as a paralegal at our company, for employment.

In case you’re wondering, if you’re writing an open letter of reference for someone

(and it will be distributed to multiple interviewers),

you would use To Whom It May Concern.

“Who” vs. “whom”?

We’ve all come across pedants who love to correct people when they use who and whom.

So what is the correct choice?

Who is used as the subject of a sentence, while whom is used as the object in a sentence.

This means that if someone is performing actions in a sentence, who is the correct choice.

• Who ate my cookie?
• I don’t know who hid it.

To check, see if the sentence still makes sense

when you replace who with he or she (you might need to reword it slightly).

Whom is used for someone being acted on.

See if you can replace it in your sentence (with a little jiggling) with her or him.

• Whom did you wave at?
• Her husband, whom she wrote to every day, missed her terribly.

So it is correct to say to whom it may concern because it concerns her, not she.

Is To Whom It May Concern outdated?

We are living in the age of information,

and generally job-hunting experts do not recommend using To Whom It May Concern

if you’re addressing a single person. It shows a lack ofeffort on behalf of the applicant.

Between the company’s website and all the social networking platforms available,

it shouldn’t be hard to track down the name of the person or department that you need.

So, what are the alternatives?

Dear

Dear, followed by the recipient’s full name,

is another standard greeting for formalletters.

If you don’t know a recipient’s name,

you can use a combination of dear and a department or team, or one person’s specific title. For example, if you don’t know have any details about who would be your boss in an application letter, you might consider addressing the entire team (marketing department, sales team, accounting and finance, etc.) or the recruiting manager.

As a word meaning “beloved,” dear dates back to the year 900. It is derived from the Old English dēore. One of the first written examples of its use can be found in 1450 in a note from Queen Margaret of Anjou, wife of King Henry VI. During the 1600s, people began using it in formal correspondence and not just letters addressed to the beloved.

Hello

In all likelihood, these days you’re more likely to be sending an email rather than a letter, even for a job application. Depending on the company, you could consider using hello instead of dear. If they have a relaxed workplace culture or you already have a relationship with the addressee, this might be appropriate. You can pair hello with the recipient’s name or use it on its own. Hello all may also work in some contexts.

Hello as a greeting is a relatively new word.

It comes from hallo, which in turn is from the Middle French hola

(which is equivalent to ho “ahoy” and la “there”).

Hallo was used to attract attention or to spur on hunting dogs.

Hello was used in the UK as an exclamation of surprise and intrigue

as in “hello, what’s this?”

When the telephone was invented, Alexander Graham Bell wanted people to use the word ahoy as a greeting.Supposedly his rival Thomas Edison suggested hello, while Bell stubbornly stuck to ahoy, and well—you know which one stuck around.

Greetings

The word greetings dates back to before 900 and stems from the Old English word gretinge. This is a recommended salutation for processional emails. It’s gender neutral, and it’s a bit more formal than a plain hello.

What’s up?

Perhaps best reserved for the most casualof letters,

what’s up does work to open a written message without having to use someone’s name.

Asking people what was “up” began earlier than you think. Before becoming popular slang (and even before Bugs Bunny used it in the 1940s), it appears in texts from the 1800s. Despite its historical lineage, it would be unwise to use this phrase in a job application. (Unless perhaps you’re looking for a role at a certain beer brand.)

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Can vs. May: Usage Guide

Auxiliary verb

Can and may are most frequently interchangeable in uses denoting possibility; because the possibility of one's doing something may depend on another's acquiescence, they have also become interchangeable in the sense denoting permission.

The use of can to ask or grant permission has been common since the 19th century and is well established, although some commentators feel may is more appropriatein formal contexts.

May is relatively rare in negative constructions (mayn't is not common);

cannot and can't are usual in such contexts.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Usage Notes

'Can' vs. 'May'

Can you use 'can' or must you use 'may'?

What to Know

Can and may can both be used to ask for permission,

although "may" is considered more formal.

"May" is the older word and has meanings that refer to the ability to do something, the possibility of something, as well as granting permission.

"Can" first overlapped with the definition of "the ability to do something," and later took the "permission" definition as well.

We all know the joke (or, rather, “joke”): a student raises their hand and asks the teacher

“Can I go to the bathroom?” and the teacher responds, “I don’t know—can you?”

The “joke” here is based on the insistence that you Maybeshould use may when asking for permission to do something, and can when speaking about ability.

By this logic, the student should have said “May I go to the bathroom?” since their ability to use the facilities is likely not in question.

But the reality of the situation is that both can and may have been used historically to refer to permission and continue to be used so today. How did we end up in this situation?

Origin and Meaning of 'May'

May is the earlier verb, showing up in manuscripts from the 8th century. It originally referred to having strength or power, and then very quickly developed a meaning that referred to ability. This particular meaning is no longer in current use, but we find a late representative of this use in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales from 1395: “We mowen nat...It ouertake, it slit awey so faste” (“We may not overtake it, it slid away so fast”). May also developed a meaning referring to possibility, which we’re still familiar with today (“I may be able to have lunch with you this Thursday”), and the meaning that schoolteachers insist it has today–one that grants permission (“You may use the bathroom”). All four of these meanings were in use before 1000AD.

Overlap with 'Can'

Around that time, can came on the scene. It was a verb that originally meant “to know,” and then “to know how to do something,” and then “to have the ability to do something.” This last meaning, which showed up around 1300, was can’s first semantic overlap with may. The overlap continued: by 1500, both can and may were used to refer to ability and possibility.

Given that there was already some overlap between the two words, it’s not surprising that by the end of the 1800s, can also came to mean “to have permission.” (If there’s anything surprising in that, it’s perhaps that it took so long for can to copy that meaning of may’s.)

It didn’t take too long for teachers and grammarians of the day to proscribe that can should only be used of ability and may of permission. We find the rule spelled out clearly (complete with a fictional student-teacher exchange) in Charles Lurie’s 1926 How To Say It: Helpful Hints On English. There is no particular reason for the rule, except for the fact that may has been used longer to mean “to give permission” than can has. Nonetheless, the “rule” lives on.

In reality,

can likely has more use in the “permission” sense than is recorded, as it is more informal and so shows up in speech more frequently than may does.

May is the more formal word, and if you are at all concerned about being tut-tutted, a safe choice.

Can is now the verb of choice for ability,

and both can and may are still used in the "possibility" sense.

You may use can if you wish, and you can use may if it makes you feel better.

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary,

Usage:

It was formerly considered correct to use may rather than can

when referring to permission

as in: you may use the laboratory for your experiments,

but this use of may is now almost entirely restricted to polite questions

such as: may I open the window?

The use of may with if in constructions

such as: your analysis may have been more credible if … is generally regarded as incorrect, might being preferred:

your analysis might have been more credible if …

Collins COBUILD English Usage

Maybe - perhaps

You use maybe or perhaps to indicate that something is possible,

although you are not certain about it.

There is no difference in meaning between these words.

Maybe he was wrong.

Perhaps Andrew is right after all.

Maybe is normally used only at the beginning of a clause.

Maybe he'll be prime minister one day.

I do think about having children, maybe when I'm 40.

Perhaps can be used in other positions in a clause.

If you live in the country, you can, perhaps, profit by buying and freezing local produce.

The Allies had better luck, perhaps, than they deserved.

It was perhaps Ellen's unconventional approach to life that made her such a great actress.

Be Careful!
Do not confuse maybe (/meɪbiː/) with may be (/meɪ biː/).

May be is used in sentences such as 'He may be the best person for the job'.

Collins COBUILD English Usage

Might– may

Might and may are used mainly to talk about possibility.

They can also be used to make a request, to ask permission, or to make a suggestion.

When might and may are used with the same meaning, may is more formal than might. Might and may are called modals.

In conversation,

the negative form mightn't is often used instead of 'might not'.

The form mayn't is much less common. People usually use the full form may not.

He mightn't have time to see you.

It may not be as hard as you think.

1. possibility: the present and the future

You can use might or may to say that it is possible

that something is true or that something will happen in the future.

I might see you at the party.

This may be why she enjoys her work.

You can use could in a similar way, but only in positive sentences.

Don't eat it. It could be poisonous.

See can - could - be able to

You can use might well or may well to show that

it is fairly likely that something is true.

You might well be right.

I think that may well be the last time we see him.

You use might not or may not to say that it is possible that something is not true.

He might not like spicy food.

That may not be the reason she left.

Be Careful!

Don't use 'might not' or 'may not' to say that it is impossible that something is true.

Instead you use could not, cannot, or can't.

She could not have known what happened unless she was there.

He cannot be younger than me.

You can't talk to the dead.

Be Careful!

Don't use 'may' when you are asking if something is possible.

Don't say, for example, 'May he be right?'

Say 'Might he be right?' or, more usually, 'Could he be right?'

Might we have got the date wrong?

Could this be true?

Be Careful!

Don't say 'What may happen?'

You usually say 'What is likely to happen?'

What are likely to be the effects of these changes?

2. possibility: the past

You use might or may with have to say that it is possible that something happened in the past, but you do not know whether it happened or not.

Jorge didn't play well. He might have been feeling tired.

I may have been a little unfair to you.

Could have can be used in a similar way.

It could have been one of the staff that stole the money.

Be Careful!

However, if something did not happen and you want to say that there was a possibility of it happening, you can only use might have or could have.

Don't use 'may have'.

For example, you say 'If he hadn't fallen, he might have won the race'.

Don't say 'If he hadn't hurt his ankle, he may have won the race'.

A lot of men died who might have been saved.

You use might not or may not with have to say that

it is possible that something did not happen or was not true.

They might not have got your message.

Her parents may not have realized what she was doing.

Be Careful!

Don't use 'might not have' or 'may not have'

to say that it is impossible that something happened or was true.

Instead you use could not have or, in British English, cannot have.

They could not have guessed what was going to happen.

The measurement can't have been wrong.

3. requests and permission

In formal English, may and might are sometimes used for making a request, or asking or giving permission.

Might I ask a question?

You may leave the table.

4. suggestions

Might is often used in polite suggestions.

You might like to read this and see what you think.

I think it might be better to switch off your phones.

Common Errors In English Usage Dictionary

May – might - Maybe may be

Most of the time “might” and “may” are almost interchangeable,

with “might” suggesting a somewhat lower probability.

You’re more likely to get wet if the forecaster says it may rain than if she says it might rain;

but substituting one for the other is unlikely to get you into trouble—so long as you stay in the present tense.

But “might” is also the past tense of the auxiliary verb “may,”

and is required in sentences like

“Chuck might have avoided arrest for the robbery if he hadn’t given the teller his business card before asking for the money.”

When speculating that events might have been other than they were, don’t substitute “may” for “might."

As an aside: if you are an old-fashioned child, you will ask, “May I go out to play?” rather than “Can I go out to play?” Despite the prevalence of the latter pattern, some adults still feel strongly that “may” has to do with permission whereas “can” implies only physical ability. But then if you have a parent like this you’ve had this pattern drilled into your head long before you encountered this page.

Dictionary of Problem Words and Expression

Maybe - may be

Maybe is an adverb meaning “possibly,” “perhaps”:

“Maybe it will snow tonight.

so if you are uncertain whether to use thisword or the phrase “may be,”

try substituting “perhaps””

May be is a verb phrase, two words that express possibility or likelihood:

“It may be that it will snow tonight.”

try substituting “perhaps”:

“Maybe she forgot I said I’d meet her at six o’clock”

becomes “Perhaps she forgot. . . .”

When the substitution makes sense, go with one word: “maybe.”

When you are wondering whether you may be waiting in the wrong cafe,

you’re dealing with a verb and its auxiliary: “may be.” Two words