Perhaps and Maybe

2024-09-14

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1
  • Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Renata in Brazil about the usage of the words "perhaps" and "maybe."
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  • Dear Teacher,
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  • I'm trying to learn English, but from now I [have] a question about what's the difference between "perhaps" and "maybe".
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  • Thank you for writing to us, Renata.
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  • I'm happy to answer this question.
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  • The two words mean the same thing.
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  • We use them to express the idea that we are guessing or unsure about something.
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  • However, there are some differences in how we use the two words.
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  • Language researchers use the Corpus of Contemporary American English to study the usage of words.
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  • They have found that speakers of American English use "maybe" more than twice as often as the word "perhaps."
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  • The Corpus contains over one billion words collected from American print, video, and audio media.
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  • Here is an example of the use of "maybe:"
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  • A: Are you going to the beach this weekend?
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  • B: Maybe-but I need to check the weather first.
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  • In this situation, if a speaker used the word "perhaps" instead of "maybe," it might sound too formal, or serious, in American English.
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  • However, in written English, we often use the word "perhaps" instead of "maybe."
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  • You can find many examples of both of these words in stories on our website at learningenglish.voanews.com.
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  • In writing, we can use commas to place the word "perhaps" between phrases or clauses in a sentence. Consider this example:
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  • It is easy, perhaps, to train a young dog to obey its owner. But training an older dog might not be so easy.
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  • Note that if we put the word "maybe" in place of "perhaps" in this writing example, it might not seem like good writing to a native speaker.
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  • Sometimes a writer will choose to use the word "maybe" instead of "perhaps" to communicate a particular feeling. Consider the following example:
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  • Government officials say the new trade deal will help the economies of both countries.
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  • Maybe. Such predictions have often been wrong in the past.
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  • Here, by using the word "maybe," the writer communicates more strongly a feeling that the government officials might be wrong.
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  • Finally, be careful not to confuse the adverb "maybe" with the verb phrase "may be."
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  • You can learn more about this by reading the Ask a Teacher program called "Maybe and May Be Are 'Driving Me Crazy.'"
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  • For our readers and listeners, do you have a question about American English?
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  • Perhaps you would like to know how American English has changed over the years.
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  • Or maybe you just need to know how to use particular words.
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  • Whatever your question may be, send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com.
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  • And that's Ask a Teacher.
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  • I'm Andrew Smith.