might have done/may have done
葛传梨教授在《英语惯用法词典》中说：“说‘也许曾经’该用‘may have…(past participle)’, 不可用‘might’…‘He may have seen her yesterday.’（他也许曾经在昨天看见她。）……‘He might have seen her yesterday.’的意思是‘他本来可以在昨天看见她[但实际上不曾看见她]’。”(p.363)
请问 He might have seen her yesterday. 能否也表示“他也许曾经在昨天看见过她”？
葛老只是讲了 may have done 与 might have done 的相异之处, 而没有讲到它们的相同之处。实际上, might have done 在没有上下文的条件下, 可以表示两种含义: A. 推测过去发生某事的可能性(说话人并不知道某事事实上是否真的发生)。此时, 它与 may have done 和 could have done 同义, 故 He might have seen her yesterday. 可以译为“他昨天可能看见了她。”下面是类似的实例:
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Grandpapa might have secretly married Pepita. 祖父可能是秘密地同佩皮塔结的婚。
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He might/may have missed the train. 他也许没有赶上火车。
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It occurred to me that I might have got it wrong. 我突然想到,我可能搞错了。
B. 过去本有可能发生某事,但说话人已知此事事实上并未发生。此时,He might have seen her yesterday. 可以译为:“他本来可以在昨天看见她[但实际上不曾看见她]”。在这个意义上,might have done 是不能用 may have done 来替换的,见 might ,may have done/might have done。
[附注]认为 might have done 只能用于第二个意义,而不能用于第一个含义的观点直到现在仍然统治着我国的英语教学。例如,不久前出版的《英语相关词语辨析词典》(外研社,p.271)进一步发挥了葛老的上述观点,强调 might have done 只能表示第二种含义。