permission
E.g. The director is alone now. So you may see him now.
If you have got a car and can drive, you may spend part of your holiday moving from place to place. (C. Eckersley)
May in this meaning is found in affirmative sentences, in interrogative sentences which usually express a request, and in negative sentences where it denotes prohibition. But in negative sentences it is not common as prohibition is generally expressed by other modal verbs (see can and must).
E.g. You may smoke in here. May I smoke in here? You may not smoke in here.
In this meaning may is combined only with the simple infinitive. In interrogative sentences the form might is also found when we wish to express a more polite request.
E.g. May I join you?
In reported speech the form might is used.
E.g. He told me that I might smoke in the room He asked me if he might join us.
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