Maybe vs Might and May vs Might

Notes from the YT Class:

• Vocabulary
• maybe: 多分, おそらく, もしかすると
• might: おそらく～だろう, ～かもしれない, 可能性がある
• may: おそらく～だろう, ～かもしれない, 可能性がある
  

A student from one of today's classes brought up the subject of using "might" and "maybe" in a past tense sentence. Although there are exceptions, here are some simple rules that you can use.

Although "maybe" can be used to indicate a 50/50 chance of something happening in the simple past, simple present, or simple future, "might" can only be used to indicate a 50/50 chance of something happening in the simple future.

Examples of maybe and might:

Simple Past	Simple Present	Simple Future
Maybe he studied English.	Maybe he studies English.	Maybe he will study English.
---	---	He might study English.

Unlike the examples above, may and might can be used interchangeably for the following tenses:

Past Perfect	Present Continuous	Future Continuous
He may have studied English yesterday.	He may be studying English now.	He may be studying English (tomorrow).
He might have studied English yesterday.	He might be studying English now.	He might be studying English (tomorrow).

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References:
1. CD-The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
2. CD-ビジネス技術 実用英語大辞典

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