Talking About Your Work in English with May Might and Probably

back to our weekly at live stream my

name is Alisha and today we’re going to

talk about how to talk about your plans

and I’m going to focus on using may

might and probably to do this today’s

lesson will be a good one for I think

beginners and of course it will be good

grammar review at the end of today’s

lesson I’m also going to cover some

other expressions you can use to talk

about your plan so I hope that everyone

can find something while we wait for

everyone to join a couple announcements

and as you join please don’t forget to

hit the like button and share today’s

lesson so that other people can find it

announcement one as always there is free

stuff for you this is the sports and

exercise PDF but from the link below the

video if you’re watching on youtube or

above the video if you’re watching on

facebook there are free PDF files for

you to download to get some vocabulary

words and expressions to practice so I

will show you a couple of these later in

today’s lesson that’s announcement one

announcement two is as usual I want to

remind you about something you can

participate in this is I think I showed

last week a screenshot from our weekly

Q&A series our weekly question and

answer series asked Alicia where you can

send me your questions your English

related questions grammar vocabulary

whatever or culture related questions

and I will choose them and maybe answer

them this is a screenshot I was talking

about the difference between especially

and special s especially and

specifically in this one so if you have

any questions you want to answer you

want me to answer maybe you can send

them to me at English class 101.com

slash asked - Alicia and of course you

can watch these episodes on our YouTube

channel the English class 101 youtube

channel you

I am toasty this morning okay

all right I see lots of people in the

check now hello on YouTube I see a dual

Oscar Augusto can will eat hello Hema

loves loves Aamir hi hope I said that

right Dario will Mars satsang Brendale

hello everybody and Facebook - hi

everybody sander rayon hi vanaf bodger

Arlene Oh someone’s name I can’t read md

md jack aria

Gina’s o2 file hello everybody I hope I

said that correctly and I see a member

on our YouTube chat - hi Alfonso alright

so as I said today’s lesson is going to

be about using may might and probably to

express your plans I’m going to talk

about the differences between these

words so of course as always in today’s

lesson please send your example

sentences in the chat I will try to

check live I can’t promise I can check

everything I will try to get to yours

live but send your questions as well as

they pop up Wow

YouTube hi hi hi unfazed book hi hi hi

lots of messages there okay I’m going to

share today’s lesson and then I’m going

to begin our topic for today all right

so as always I have a couple of

different things I have like three basic

groups that I want to split today’s

lesson into so the first group the first

topic I want to talk about today is

using may and might may and might so -

for today’s lesson yes I want to note

that we use may to ask permission to do

something yes like may I use the

restroom or may I borrow your pen

yes we have this use of May but today

I’m not going to focus on that grammar

point I’m not going to talk about using

May to ask permission today I’m going to

focus on using may and might the meaning

that they share the meaning

is similar so with that in mind I want

to first talk about the differences

between the positive and the negative

uses of may and might so when we make a

positive sentence when we make a

positive statement with may or with

might it expresses about a 50 or 60

percent chance of something so it’s a

pretty good chance of something but

we’re not sure we’re not 100% sure about

our plan

so maybe 50 to 60 percent this is not a

perfect rule just a guide when you make

a negative statement however so that

means may not or might not something it

expresses a low chance

so like 20% or 30% chance of something a

low chance of the following activity so

positive negative also I want to point

out lots of people ask how do I know

should I choose may or should I choose

might what should I do

might is more common in American English

in American English we usually say I

might do this I might not do that we use

might much more often than we use may in

American English may is of course

correct but to American English speakers

it’s sometimes sounds a little bit more

formal so if we want to sound more

polite we might use May we might use May

but generally speaking generally

American English speakers I’m an

American English speaker we use might

might so how do we make a statement how

do we make a statement with may or might

to do this we have our subject so

subject that means I or you or he she we

they are subject plus either may or

might today I’m going to practice might

a lot but you can use May here so

subject might

to make it negative ad not here so

subject might not I might not

he might not she may not so this is

optional

to make the negative form put you’re not

here and finally we use the infinitive

verb so I might not go or he may come

and then we’ll add some extra

information after the verb according to

the verb you choose so let’s take a look

at some examples first one I might go

hiking this weekend

I might go hiking this weekend so a

positive sentence I subject might so

fifty to sixty percent chance of

something go is my infinitive verb and

the information after hiking this

weekend so I might go hiking it’s also

grammatically correct but we want to

talk about our specific plan yeah so we

include this weekend for the time period

i michael hiking this weekend okay

second example we may see a movie

tomorrow night we may see a movie

tomorrow night so again this probably

this might sound a little bit more

formal in american english it’s correct

it’s totally correct it sounds a little

more polite though so we may see here’s

my subject we may so 50 to 60% chance or

so see is my verb in the infinitive form

so remember infinitive form means just

the basic dictionary form when you check

the dictionary the infinitive form is

the the form that’s in the dictionary so

we may see a movie tomorrow night the

difference here between see a movie and

watch a movie when you use C it sounds

like you’re going to the movie theater

if you say we may watch a movie tonight

it sounds like you’re going to stay at

home and watch the movie that’s the

difference okay let’s look at some

negative examples and then of course as

I’m teaching this part your question for

the chat live and not live is what’s

something you might do

this weekend so send me your examples

and I’ll try to check them in a minute

let’s look at some negatives though she

might not come to the beach with us

tomorrow she might not come to the beach

with us tomorrow so this one again a

negative my subject is she I’m using

might not might not so that means

there’s a very low chance of this action

there’s a very low chance of this

activity she might not come to the beach

with us so that means there was some

plan that we had I want to express one

person’s plan to not come so there’s a

very low chance this person will come

she might not come to the beach with us

tomorrow one more negative example I may

not be able to attend your party after

all so I included this example sentence

for a couple reasons first I may not be

able to I may not be able to attend so

this isn’t important and small what

sounds like a small point but this is a

very helpful expression I might not be

able to do something this is different

it sounds different in nuance then sorry

I had to do I might not attend

I might not attend your party after all

if I say I might not attend your party

after all it sounds like that’s my

decision I decide I’m not going to

attend if however you say I am sorry I

may not I may not be able to attend your

party this be able to sounds like

there’s some other outside

responsibilities like you have work a

sudden work project or your family or

some other situation you need to deal

with so that means you can’t do it

you’re not able to do it it’s not

possible

so this

makes the sentence much much softer I

might not be able to attend your party

another thing I want to talk about with

this one is this after all after all

after all so this does not mean like

it’s not a literal expression it doesn’t

mean like after Oh what yeah this means

in the end in the end so this means like

at the end of the situation so we use

this in cases where we’ve discussed

something so in this situation for

example maybe I talked to someone about

attending a party we made a plan

together and then a week later I’m like

oh wait I don’t know if I can come I

might not be able to attend after all of

our discussion after all of the things

we talked about after all of those

details shared in the end I don’t think

I’m able to attend so after all shows

like you recognize the stuff all of the

things all of the details from before so

it was not possible after all you can

use this expression in positive

sentences to like how it was okay after

all like the situation was okay after

all I was able to catch a taxi after all

so you can use this in positive and

negative expressions we usually use it

to talk about like kind of the opposite

of the plans like we were really worried

about something but it was okay after

all or I had a plan to do something but

I couldn’t do it after all

so that’s kind of the feeling with this

one so also last point for section one

today use the negative to talk about

plans the other person already knows

about so like if I say to you like

what’s something you’re going to do this

weekend or what’s something you might do

this weekend and you say I might not go

to your party or like I might not do

something else well I didn’t know about

that plan so it sounds strange that you

tell me something you’re not going to do

so we usually use the negative to

talk about plans the other person that

was about alright so this is part one

I’m going to check your examples now

Adriana on YouTube says I might not be

able to watch your kids good example

perfect nyla says I might go to the park

this coming weekend

excellent Khan Walid says I might not go

for an internship after exams because my

brother is coming next week from abroad

nice okay Henry says she might go to the

supermarket this Sunday perfect nice

grammar everybody on Facebook I don’t

see examples right now on Facebook uh

let me see I’ve got some lag maybe I

don’t know no examples on Facebook okay

uh maybe I missed some to Juby on

youtube says I may not be able to finish

this video because I’m about to leave

for work

oh great example all right example and

also you can watch this later it is

being recorded Lucas says I might not go

to the beach with my friends this

weekend

perfect Nicola says he might not go to

college tomorrow nice one nice one

Elton says I might run 10k this weekend

ooh nice what might I do I think I might

go surfing this weekend I’m actually I’m

probably that I’ll save that for the

next one I’ll save that for my next one

that’s my probable plan okay great very

nice examples everybody up some on

Facebook now a nice Facebook cell says I

might not be able to go to work tomorrow

cuz of the snow

oh it’s a snowy where you are and do

Yemi says I might go to a party tonight

good uh Phil says I’m sorry feely says I

might not go to work tomorrow so

remember this verb I might not

infinitive form so no ing form here I

might not go to work tomorrow good very

nice everybody okay let’s take a break

and then we’ll go to part two for

today’s lesson alright I will share over

here I chose a couple I chose a couple

pdf’s I don’t usually show you I think

these are the leisure time activities

pedia leisure time means free time your

free time activities this has on the

back some things that we do in our free

time so this is a great one I think to

practice today’s grammar point with like

I might stay home this weekend or I

might go to a concert this weekend so

this one has some vocabulary words for

your free time the things you may or may

not do in your free time you can check

this one out I also chose this one this

is the sports sports sports connect and

exercise media on the back of this of

course sorry at the bottom here there

are some sports you can talk about some

common sports but on the back again you

can find a list of physical activity

related phrases some of you were talking

about running 10k or going to the gym

that kind of thing so this is good for

maybe like physical physical activities

and so on so check this out check out

the other one I showed you too there’s a

whole bunch more I’ll try to show you a

couple more later but check this out you

can find this from the link below the

video if you’re watching on youtube or

above the video if you’re watching on

facebook so check them out there and

they are free and you need an account at

English class 101.com but it is free

after you make your account sign in and

go to the bottom of the page there’s a

link there to get this stuff for free

some of you have asked how to do that so

check that out and improve your

vocabulary okay ah great

so let’s go on to part 2 for today’s

lesson then if you’re just joining

today’s topic is how to talk about your

plans with may might and probably I just

talked about may and might so now I’m

going to talk about probably

yes if you are just joining to please

don’t forget to hit the like button make

sure to hit the thumbs up button and

share the video so that other learners

can find today’s lesson

Oh cute okey let’s go to parts two then

part two is about probably using

probably to describe your plans so I’m

off this feet let’s go let’s go over

here so let’s use probably now so

probably is used to describe a very high

chance of something in a positive

sentence in negative and negative

expressions then it describes a very low

chance of something so in this lesson

I’m going to talk about using probably

together with future tense with simple

future tense expressions so this is some

review may be the difference between

will and going to we can use probably

with will and going to to make our plans

a little bit more like specific to make

to express our plans more clearly yeah

so to make positive expressions with

probably we can say I will probably I’ll

probably so aisle this is the reduced

form the short form of I will I will

probably we don’t say I will probably

I’ll probably I’ll probably and we can

also use going to going to so if your

subject is I you can say I’m probably

going to I’m probably going to and also

note this going to in speech we usually

say gonna gonna also another point about

probably in very fast speech we don’t

really say probably we don’t say

probably really clearly

it sounds like don’t write this don’t

write this when you’re writing messages

but it sounds like prolly prolly so for

example when I say I’m probably going to

in every

speech I said I say I’m probably gonna

I’m probably gonna I’m probably gonna go

surfing this weekend that’s how it

sounds in everyday speech I do not say

I’m probably going to go surfing so keep

in mind we’ve reduced this expression a

lot I’m probably gonna something so we

use these to make positive expressions

for negatives then there are some things

to consider some things to think about

first when you use will you need to make

the negative so you you use will not the

reduced form is won’t won’t I probably

won’t so please note in the positive

it’s aisle probably yeah so I will

probably we don’t say I won’t probably

we say I probably won’t I probably won’t

do this thing I probably won’t go there

and when we use going to I’m probably

not going to so here the negative comes

before going to I’m probably not going

to so at native speed these sound like I

probably won’t do that or I’m probably

not going to do that I’m probably not

gonna do that so what is the difference

between will and going to very quickly a

quick reminder we use will for today’s

lesson we use will to talk about

decisions we make in the conversation so

if I decide something now like at a

restaurant thing I’m probably gonna I

don’t know

I’ll probably get this salad so I just

decided that at the restaurant if you

want to talk about something you decided

before the conversation it sounds a bit

more natural to say I’m probably going

to of course we can use going to to

express strong decisions we make in the

moment of speaking but this is kind of

an easy way to divide the two for today

so let’s look at some example sentences

that use this first I’m probably gonna

get dinner with a friend I’m probably

gonna get dinner I can use e to eat is

fine I’m probably gonna get dim

with a friend so again at native speed

this sentence sounds like I’m probably

gonna get dinner with a friend tonight

I’m probably gonna get dinner with a

friend tonight quite fast so we’re

reducing probably and gonna even more

I’m probably gonna I’m probably gonna

get dinner with a friend another

positive example this one with Eyal I

will probably finish work around 6:00

I’ll probably finish work around 6:00 at

native speed that sounds like I’ll

probably finish work around 6:00 I’ll

probably finish work around 6:00 so we

use this expression like when you’re

texting someone like you’re texting your

friend or like your girlfriend or

boyfriend or your family member and you

want to give them an update about your

time like your schedule you can say I’ll

probably finish work I’ll probably

finish work so work means your job you

could say school to I’ll probably finish

school around 6:00 so you can use this

expression to share your schedule

updates very useful ok on to a couple of

negative ones and please do remember we

can change the subject here so I focused

on using I as the subject but we can use

he he he’ll probably she’ll probably

wheel probably or he’s probably going to

remember your verb needs to change with

if your subject is he she or it here he

she or it is probably going to so some

examples he probably won’t have time for

a meeting today he probably won’t have

time for a meeting today

you’re talking about someone else’s

schedule here maybe like your boss or

your coworker he probably won’t he

probably won’t so this shows I’m

deciding now his schedule is pretty full

there’s a very low chance of a meeting

today there’s a very low chance of time

for a meeting today one more we’re

probably not going to go to the company

party we’re probably not going to go to

the company party a native speed this

sounds like we’re probably not gonna go

to the company party so very very

quickly reduce those sounds quite a lot

and if you like we’re probably not go

we can remove this part to the company

party we’re probably not going to the

company party it’s okay to use this

going when you’re using go when the verb

is going to are sorry when you’re using

going to and you’re using go after that

you can just remove that to go we’re

probably not going to the company party

that’s okay so how about you

what are you probably going to do this

weekend send in the chat what are you

probably going to do this weekend so

there are many people watching oh my

gosh okay lots of people out there hi

everybody uh her nesto on youtube says

I’m probably I’m probably gonna passed

the English reading text test next week

so when you use this one I’m probably

going to make sure going to comes after

probably so not I’m gonna probably but

I’m probably gonna I’m probably gonna

I’m probably gonna yeah deep breath says

I’m probably going to buy this book nice

Jessie Hussey hello I’m YouTube says

I’ll probably stay home to study English

on YouTube with Alisha’s lessons thank

you okay uh on Facebook uh Ali Asghar

hello I’m I’ll probably go to bed around

12:00 okay so make sure don’t mix so in

that example you have I’ll probably and

going to choose one I’ll probably go to

bed or I’m probably going to go to bed

only one or the other so don’t mix

Iolande going to there elephant says I’m

probably going to the moon this weekend

I don’t believe you okay let’s see Karim

says I he probably won’t go with us on a

picnic because he has hay fever bummer

bummer bummer means too bad bummer is do

people say bummer

yeah bummer means too bad I don’t know

if that’s the coolest word right now but

that

uh Julian says er SS I’m probably gonna

something on vacation don’t forget your

verb I’m probably going to you need a

verb at the end we’re making a verb

phrase here I’ll probably verb I’ll

probably I’m probably going to verb

don’t forget your verb there ah site on

YouTube says is it correct to say I

might or might not to show the actions

in a short way like maybe or maybe not

ah you mean like I might or I might not

yeah but it’s you’re you’re not making

any decision there really so you’re not

really communicating very much it just

shows that you haven’t decided something

in that situation if I understand your

question correctly I would probably just

say I don’t know yet I haven’t decided

yet I might I might not I don’t know

we’ll see so I that I probably would

just say I don’t know all right

on Facebook I’m probably going to listen

to your lesson says Mohammed whoo-hoo

thanks Richard says hello I’m playing

Final Fantasy seven okay that is cool

are you going to do that this weekend um

other ones I’m probably gonna take a

vacation take a vacation sounds a little

more natural in American English we tend

to say take a vacation with that verb

taken there I’m probably going to go

fishing this weekend going to go fishing

so don’t forget your verb here yeah I’ll

probably go I’m probably going to go hmm

all right let’s take one more extremely

short break and then I’ll introduce no

more grammar really a little bit of

grammar and then we’ll go to a few extra

expressions that you can use to express

your plans as well so what did I show

you earlier I showed you sports and I

showed you free time activities let’s

look at least very quickly I chose a

couple more of these move a couple more

of these free PDFs

over here to share with you I thought

these would be good for today’s lesson

the first one

this one is if you travel a lot I know a

lot of you are studying English to

improve your communication skills for

work and for business so if you are a

business traveler this is the hotel the

hotel one on the back here our questions

like what time is checkout is breakfast

included and stuff like that so you can

use similar phrases with today’s grammar

like I might have breakfast or I’ll

probably check out at something

something or I probably won’t go to the

I don’t know conference or something

like that in the conference hall I don’t

know so this I thought this would be

maybe a nice one to refer to of course

there’s other hotel vocabulary here and

one more this one is the dining one so

it’s is dining like a champ champ is

short for champion but this one has

expressions on the back for talking

about the food and then there’s also on

the front expressions to use when you

order as well so I just I mentioned one

of my example sentences was like I’ll

probably have or I’m probably gonna get

something something something when you

order at a restaurant so this might be

another nice one for you to check to

reviews so check this out

all of this stuff and lots more that I

did not and will not show you in depth

today you can find all of these from the

link below the video if you’re watching

on youtube or above the video if you’re

watching on facebook there’s a link

login with your account if you do not

have an account you can make a free

account and get this stuff if you’re

watching on Instagram sorry I can’t see

your comments live get the link on

YouTube or Facebook alrighty then let’s

go to the last point for today’s lesson

if you’re just joining at the end

today’s topic is talking about your

plans with May might and probably the

last part of today’s lesson will just

introduce a few other expressions that

are related to today’s topic of course

if you have not yet do make sure to like

and share today’s video so other people

can find it alright let’s go then to the

last group part 3 other expressions

uh this one first one there’s a chance

aisle there’s a chance aisle for example

there’s a chance I’ll see him this

weekend

or there is a chance we’ll get coffee

tomorrow so this the key here is there

is a chance aisle so we’re talking about

something that is not sure we are not at

all sure but we just want to express

something is possible there’s a chance

we’re not saying it’s high likelihood

we’re not saying it’s high possibility

we’re not saying low it’s I guess if I

had to choose I would say maybe 50%

there’s a chance aisle there’s a chance

aisle and verb probably infinitive form

there’s a chance I’ll see him there’s a

chance I’ll go there’s a chance I’ll do

something so don’t forget this will

reduced here and of course he’ll or

she’ll so you can express H simply a

chance when you want to express

possibility you can do that next one

when you want to be really formal I’ve

used this in emails from time to time

recently made me know this sounds a more

on the formal side there’s a slight

possibility I’m gonna have to okay so

I’ve combined a few things here the key

for this sentence really is slight

possibility slight possibility slight

means small there’s a slight possibility

possibility think of possibility is a

more formal or a more polite expression

for chance so this is like the this part

there’s a slight possibility something

something something is like a formal way

of saying there’s a chance of something

so there’s a slight possibility and then

here just for your reference I’m

introducing I’m

have to I’m going to have to so this is

expressing a future responsibility so

this is a little different from I have

to do something if I want to talk about

a future like maybe after a few things

maybe after a few days I’m going to have

to so I’m talking about a responsibility

maybe next week so this is different

from I have to teach a live stream and

maybe oh I’m gonna have to go to the

bank tomorrow Oh like we use this after

like some situation or some decision has

been made that changes our future plans

a bit so there’s a slight possibility

I’m gonna have to another way to say

this is there’s a chance that in the

future I will have this responsibility

for example there’s a slight possibility

I’m gonna have to cancel my reservation

or there’s a slight possibility I’m

gonna have to skip the meeting so some

usually there’s some change that changes

your future responsibilities ok those

long so let’s go to next I’m thinking

about verb in the ing form I’m thinking

about so thinking about means you have

not decided yet

but you just want to express your idea

to someone this one is useful when

you’re making plans hmm I’m thinking

about taking a vacation this weekend or

I’m thinking about going to that new

restaurant or I’m thinking about

checking out that movie do you want to

come

so you’re expressing just an idea here

I’m thinking about verb a verb in the

ing form your progressive or your

continuous form here Alfonzo says

probably I’m so I’m probably gonna go

I’m probably gonna go as the order so

you’re probably should go after I’m I’m

probably gonna go Andrew says there’s a

slight possibility I’ll speak at the

conference okay good nice one

other ones other ones I don’t see other

ones uh on Facebook says there’s a

chance I’ll go meet up with the teacher

meet up with meet up with someone

there’s a chance I’ll go meet up with

the teacher um okay

on to this one I’m debating I’m debating

between continuous verb and continuous

verb debating debating so a debate is a

discussion between two people like a

formal discussion opinion a and opinion

B discuss so when you say I’m debating

it means in your head in your mind you

have two ideas and you’re trying to

decide between the two of them I’m

debating between watching a movie at the

theater and staying home and cooking I’m

debating between going to Cambodia and

going to Thailand so when you’re trying

to decide between two things I’m

debating between continuous expression

continuous expression okay I’m extremely

late so the last one is maybe I’ll maybe

I’ll be careful with this sometimes I

hear students use maybe when they just

don’t know how to answer something so

maybe I’ll is used when you’re not sure

about something and you just want to

share an idea like maybe when I said

what are you going to do this weekend or

what something you might do this weekend

like oh no no maybe watch a movie or

maybe I’ll do something something so

maybe I’ll is really like I don’t know

this is just an idea it’s lower chance

than might I might watch a movie or

maybe I’ll maybe I’ll is a little lower

chance than positive might watch a movie

I might watch a movie or maybe I’ll

watch a movie it’s like this person

really doesn’t know yet they just want

to share an idea all right

I am six minutes late so let’s stop okay

I’ll end there there are a couple good

examples coming in Mahmud says I’m

debating between going to the gym and

working out at home so make sure that

second expression is also using a verb

in

continuous form I’m debating between

going to the gym and working out at home

and it’s perfect then it’s perfect I’m

debating between going to the movies and

playing video games is really perfect

nice job Charles says I’m debating

between improving my English or my

French ah that’s one case if your verb

is shared if you’re using the same verb

in both a and B you can drop the second

verb so I’m debating between improving

my English or my French because

improving is the same verb there all

right too much and I’m very late so I

have to stop thank you as always for

joining us live this week we’ll be back

again next week next week’s topic is how

to use will and would I always forget

likely I always forget next week I am

planning to talk about the differences

between will and wood and I think this

lesson is about using them for the

future so we’ll talk a little bit about

this will point that I described in part

2 of today’s lesson so join us live 9:00

p.m. Eastern Standard Time that is New

York City time if you do not know your

local time please google it or you can

set a notification on YouTube or

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our lesson so please join us again next

week we will have a grand time also

don’t forget to download the free things

I talked about in today’s lesson you can

find them from the link below the video

on youtube or above the video on

facebook just login with your account

and get them so enjoy the rest of your

week thank you so much for liking and

sharing the video we all really really

appreciate it and we will see you again

very soon have a nice week have a nice

weekend bye bye