¿Cuál es la diferencia entre I mayn't have recognized you with those new glasses. y I mightn't have recognized you with those new glasses. ?Puedes dar oraciones como ejemplo.

There is a question from the textbook as follows.

Hello! I (mayn't have, mightn't have) recognized you with those glasses!

The answer is "mightn't have", but I do not understand why "mayn't have" does not work here. The only reason I came up with was that we did not say "mayn't." But what if it says "may not have" instead of "mayn't have"?

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monochromacolor

5 ene 2021

Respuesta destacada

Inglés (US)

Mayn’t just is not a word. It just isn’t a real word. “May not have” is absolutely fine, as are “might not have” and “mightn’t” (mightn’t is super uncommon, most people would say might not have), but “mayn’t” is not.

I can’t tell you why, I don’t know, it just is.

Also, to make this natural, we would usually say I almost didn’t recognize you. It’s more common than might not have. “Might not have” is a little more specific.

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monochromacolor

5 ene 2021

Inglés (US)

Mayn’t just is not a word. It just isn’t a real word. “May not have” is absolutely fine, as are “might not have” and “mightn’t” (mightn’t is super uncommon, most people would say might not have), but “mayn’t” is not.

I can’t tell you why, I don’t know, it just is.

Also, to make this natural, we would usually say I almost didn’t recognize you. It’s more common than might not have. “Might not have” is a little more specific.

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J_Simpson

5 ene 2021

Japonés

@monochromacolor Thank you! I understand. I never expected that either sounded unnatural because the textbook I am using is said to be one of the most reliable English grammar books in Japan...

monochromacolor

5 ene 2021

Inglés (US)

@Holy_Simpson that happens, I know that the “most reliable” sources aren’t always perfect. The most reliable Japanese language books here have the same problem sometimes, and then you get foreigners speaking Japanese and they REALLY sound like foreigners, because of that.

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J_Simpson

5 ene 2021

Japonés

@monochromacolor That's true. Still, I wonder why they introduced such an uncommon expression even though one of the co-authors was in fact a native English speaker. Anyway, thanks again.

By the way, you wrote がんばれます！ at the end of your profile, but がんばります is a correct expression. Just as a token of my thanks.