May

How it is used

Very common in academic writing for hedging claims: may indicate, may suggest, may affect, may be linked to. It sounds cautious and precise.

Example sentences

1. These differences may reflect changes in assessment policy rather than a genuine decline in student motivation across the program.

   Here may marks the explanation as plausible but not fully proven, which is appropriate when evidence allows more than one reading.

2. The missing survey responses may have affected the final pattern, so we reported the limitation in the methods section.

   In this example, may softens the claim and signals caution about cause or impact rather than asserting certainty.

Common collocations

• may indicate
• may suggest
• may affect
• may be related to

Related terms

• hedgingUsing cautious language, such as may, might, appear to or suggest, so that a claim is only as strong as the evidence allows.
• suggestIn academic writing, to indicate that something is probably true without proving it; it can also mean to put forward an idea or recommendation.

More terms: Argument and Hedging

• argument
• evidence
• argue
• claim
• to some extent
• counterargument
• stance
• it could be argued that
• acknowledge
• arguably
• tentative
• plausible