(For example, a child may ask a question like "Can I go outside?" and the responding adult might correct the child by saying that the child is able to go outside, but must ask permission by using "may.") "Can," however, is often used for permission. "May" and "might" can both be used to say that one thing is true but that something else is also true, as in "This car may/might be more expensive than the other cars, but it will be cheaper to maintain." (If we used "could" instead of "may" or "might" here the sentence would mean that it is not certain that the car is more expensive than the other cars.)īoth "may" and "can" are used to indicate that something is allowed, but "may" is more formal: "You may leave whenever you like" is more formal than "You can go whenever you want to." Children are often taught that only "may" is used for permission, and that "can" is used only for ability. "May," "might," and "could" can all be used to say that something is possible, as in "The story may/might/could be true" or "The painting may/might/could be very old." You can use any of the three in contexts like these.
A few examples of "ought" are "We ought to be home by noon," which means "I expect that we will be home by noon," and "I ought to fix that," which means "I should fix that." It means the same thing as "should," and is used in the same ways, although "ought" is less common and a bit more formal.
It's almost always followed by "to" and the infinitive form of a verb. "Ought" is probably the simplest of this set of modal verbs. Modals express possibility, ability, prediction, permission, and necessity. These verbs are all modal verbs, which means that they are generally used in combination with other verbs, and are used to change the verb's meaning to something different from simple fact. The entries for each of these include the complete definitions, as well as many example sentences, so I will discuss here only the aspects of each that I think are likely to cause confusion. A reader asked for some guidance on using the modal verbs "may," "might," "can," "could," and "ought." Editor Emily Brewster responds:
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