MIGHT AS WELL and MAY AS WELL in English

How to use MIGHT AS WELL and MAY AS WELL

by Jane Lawson at DailyStep.com

Here is Audio Word Study #092 from Jane Lawson at DailyStep.com

If you ‘might as well do something’, or ‘may as well do something’, it means there are no reasons not to do it.

Examples:
1. We might as well finish this work tonight – it will only take another half an hour. (note: this means “There is no reason not to finish this work, as we have nearly finished it already.”)

2. “This hotel has a special offer at the moment – three nights for the price of two. So shall we stay for three nights instead of two?”

“Yes, we may as well I suppose, as it won’t cost any more.” (note: this means “There is no reason for us not to stay an extra night.”)

We often use MIGHT AS WELL or MAY AS WELL as a short answer.

So, example 1 could also be said like this:

“Shall we finish this work tonight? It will only take another half an hour.”

“Yes, might as well!” (note: this means: “Yes, we might as well finish it tonight.”)

However, be careful because MIGHT AS WELL can also have a different meaning.

Take a look at this short conversation:

Susan: “What are you doing this evening?”

Mary:   “I might go to the theatre.”

Susan: “Oh, I might as well.”

Here, Susan means “I might go to the theatre too.”, because she is using the phrase:

MIGHT + AS WELL.  (note: AS WELL means TOO or ALSO)

If you listen to the audio file, though, you can hear that in its second meaning, the stress is on the word “I”. 

So Susan says: “I might as well.”

Also, she is responding to a sentence that contains the word MIGHT.

Now, try to write your own sentences using MIGHT AS WELL or MAY AS WELL. Make sure they are true to your own life if possible because this will help you to remember them better.

That is all for Audio Word Study #092 on DailyStep.com

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