May I might be corrected

[CRilliterate]

I am ofter confused with 'may' and 'might'.
I might be wrong or I may be right???



________________________________________
I am using Windows XP, Crystal Reports 9.0 with SQL Server

 

[CajunCenturion]

One easy way to help distinguish between the two, which will work in most cases, is to ask yourself if you are talking about possibilities or permissions. If it's possibilities, then use might and for permissions use may.

You may be wrong ==> you have permission to be wrong.
You might be wrong ==> it's possible that you're wrong.



--------------
Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[tsdragon]

And what about "I could be wrong"?


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[SantaMufasa]

I could be wrong.

...means I have the ability to be wrong.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[

http://www.dasages.com:

Providing low-cost remote Database Admin services]
Click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips if you use Oracle in Utah USA.

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,

I could be wrong

when used by someone, usually implies that it is very unlikely that they are wrong...





To Paraphrase:"The Help you get is proportional to the Help you give.."

 

[CRilliterate]

I could be wrong" tells me that you think you are right...lol

Thanks CC

________________________________________
I am using Windows XP, Crystal Reports 9.0 with SQL Server

 

[Stella740pl]

"I could be wrong" tells me that you think you are right... but reserve the right to be wrong as a disclaimer.

 

[CRilliterate]

I could be wrong" tells me that you think you are right... but reserve the right to be wrong as a disclaimer in case you will be proved wrong which you believe can't possibly happen due to your expertise...

________________________________________
I am using Windows XP, Crystal Reports 9.0 with SQL Server

 

[Stella740pl]

"I could be wrong" tells me that you think you are right... but reserve the right to be wrong as a disclaimer in case you will be proved wrong which you believe can't possibly happen due to your expertise...

No, it doesn't sound like that to me.

"I could be wrong" tells me that you think you are right but reserve the right to be wrong as a disclaimer in case you will be proved wrong, which is completely possible, even though not highly likely.

 

[CRilliterate]

Most of the time I hear 'I could be wrong' - it always souns like 'sure...when have I ever been wrong?' :-D

________________________________________
I am using Windows XP, Crystal Reports 9.0 with SQL Server

 

[tsdragon]

Yikes, I managed to hijack this whole thread with one short posting. At least it was mostly on-topic.

CC is right about may vs. might. I can still remember my mother lecturing me on the difference (and she included can/could as well).

I think you've all got the sense of "I could be wrong" pegged. There's a remote possibility of it, but don't hold your breath. I only said that just in case.

Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[LFI]

Person 1: <long-winded explanation>
Person 2: Really!?!
Person 1: Well... I could be wrong. [translation: I don't feel like talking about this anymore, either because I don't want my statements challenged, I'm happy with my understanding even if it might be incorrect, I just spoke without giving it much thought and could use some time to ponder this before getting into a deeper discussion, or I pulled everything I just said out of my a** because 'why are you asking ME this question anyway!?!']

Dave

P.S., I too thought CC concisely addressed and answered the OP's question straight off, so I hope this little semi-related hijack is not too frowned upon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
...east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce
they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does

 

[SantaMufasa]

I hope this little semi-related hijack is not too frowned upon.

Except for the passive-voice construction, there's no frowning going on here.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[

http://www.dasages.com:

Providing low-cost remote Database Admin services]
Click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips if you use Oracle in Utah USA.

 

[Trevoke]

What's wrong with passive voice construction... ?

I might be wrong
I may be wrong
I could be wrong
I can be wrong

....

I should be wrong.

The first four are, in order of strength, how unlikely it is that the person is wrong. First one : very unlikely. Last one : pretty possible.

The last one is more for incredulity : I should be wrong, but this works! Okay, let's send it to debugging.

"That time in Seattle... was a nightmare. I came out of it dead broke, without a house, without anything except a girlfriend and a knowledge of UNIX."
"Well, that's something," Avi says. "Normally those two are mutually exclusive."
-- Neal Stephenson, "Cryptonomicon"

 

[LFI]

I figure Dave/Santa was talking about the fact that I suggested that the hijack might be frowned upon (passive) as opposed to ME being frowned upon for DOING the hijacking (active).

It would have been preferable if I had said "I hope I am not frowned upon for this little semi-related hijack."

That was what I had assumed Dave/Santa was talking about.

Dave?

Dave

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
...east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce
they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does

 

[aardvark92]

I thought Santa's "passive-voice" comment simply referred to the construction of the sentence.

I hope this little semi-related hijack is not too frowned upon.

To keep the same meaning while using the active voice, try:

I hope no one frowns upon this little semi-related hijack.

I could be wrong.

 

[LFI]

Yes. I thought about it later and realized that I might have replaced a passive sentence with a passive sentence. The ACTIVE part is, of course: WHO is doing the frowning upon? NOT who is frowned upon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
...east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce
they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does

 

[Stella740pl]

Once again, I would like to say a word in defense of a passive voice.
What's wrong with it? It exists in the language for a purpose and can be appropriate when used for this purpose.

In this particular case, it might be. Say, if you main concern is that you, or rather the hijack you committed, could be frowned upon - in general, no matter who does the frowning - say, you mean the majority of the readers, not every single one, and not any particular one, then your hijack is the main subject of this sentence, and you don't have to distract attention from that fact. Then, yes, I would say,

"I hope this little semi-related hijack is not too frowned upon."

If, on the other hand, your main concern that no one at all, or not a particular person, or not someone holding some powers, etc. might frown upon your hijack, than, by any means, get rid of the passive voice and accentuate this fact:

"I hope no one frowns upon this little semi-related hijack.",
or
"I hope Such-and-Such doesn't frown upon this little semi-related hijack."

But we have already discussed it in some earlier threads, more than once.

 

[LFI]

I've been won over!

No... wait...

You've won me over!

Dave

P.S., 'irony' is the correct term for the fact that discussion regarding the hijacking of a thread is hijacking the thread, yes?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
...east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce
they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does

 

[CajunCenturion]

I might be wrong
I may be wrong
I could be wrong
I can be wrong
...
The first four are, in order of strength, how unlikely it is that the person is wrong.

That's the first I've heard about that ordering construct, and I'd like to learn more about that. Do you have any references that explain the rationale behind that ranking?

-----

Re: Passive Voice

I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with Passive Voice, but it should only be used in certain circumstances to achieve a certain effect. That being said, I agree those above; this discussion deserves its own thread.

--------------
Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein