maybe

maybe

See also: may be

English

Alternative forms

• may-be (obsolete)
• mebbe (dialectal)

Etymology

From an ellipsis of it may be, equivalent to may +‎ be. Compare mayhap.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: mā'bē, IPA^(key): /ˈmeɪbi/, [ˈmeɪ̯bi]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪbi

Adverb

maybe (not comparable)

1. Modifies a verb, indicating a lack of certainty: it may be (that)...

   Maybe I was imagining it, but I could swear that the dog understood what I was saying.

2. (as a pro-sentence) Perhaps that is true (expressing no commitment to a decision or a neutral viewpoint to a statement).
   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     Okay. See you later, maybe. — Maybe I’ll see you later.

     Audio (US)

     (file)

3. (UK, meiosis) Certainly.

   Maybe not the best idea.

Usage notes

• Do not confuse maybe with the verb construction may be: "Maybe that's true", but "That may be true".

Synonyms

• (perhaps): mayhaps, peradventure, perhaps, possibly
• (as a pro-sentence): could be, mayhaps, might be, perhaps, possibly, that’s possible

Derived terms

• and I don't mean maybe

Translations

indicating a lack of certainty

Afrikaans: dalk (af), miskien (af) Albanian: ndoshta (sq) Alviri-Vidari: شاید‎ (šāyed) Arabic: رُبَّمَا‎ (rubbamā), مِن اَلْمُمْكِن‎ (min al-mumkin), لَعَلَّ‎ (ar) (laʿalla) Egyptian Arabic: يمكن‎ (yimkin) Hijazi Arabic: يمكن‎ (yimkin), بلكن‎ (balkin) Moroccan Arabic: يمكن‎ (yimkin) South Levantine Arabic: يمكن‎ (yimkin) Armenian: միգուցե (hy) (migucʿe) Asturian: quiciabes, quiciás Azerbaijani: bəlkə (az), ola bilsin Bashkir: бәлки (bälki), мөмкин (mömkin), ихтимал (ixtimal) Basque: naski Belarusian: мо́жа быць (móža bycʹ), магчы́ма (mahčýma), мо́жа (móža), ма́быць (mábycʹ), мо (mo) (informal) Bulgarian: мо́же би (móže bi) Catalan: potser (ca) Central Sierra Miwok: mi·kán Chechen: хила тарло (xila tarlo) Cherokee: ᎠᏎᏱᎩ (aseyigi), ᎠᏎᏛ (asedv) Chinese: Cantonese: 或者 (waak6 ze2), 有可能 (jau5 ho2 nang4) Mandarin: 也許／也许 (zh) (yěxǔ), 或許／或许 (zh) (huòxǔ), 或是 (zh) (huòshì), 可能 (zh) (kěnéng) Cornish: martesen Czech: asi (cs), možná (cs) Danish: måske (da), muligvis Dutch: misschien (nl), wellicht (nl), mogelijk (nl), mogelijkerwijs (nl) Esperanto: eble Estonian: võib-olla (et), ehk (et) Faroese: kanska Finnish: ehkä (fi), jospa (fi) French: peut-être (fr), peut-être que (+ indicative), il se peut que (+ subjunctive) Galician: cecais, se cadra, quizaves, seica, quizais Gallo: ventieil' Georgian: შესაძლებელია (šesaʒlebelia), შესაძლოა (šesaʒloa) German: vielleicht (de), möglicherweise (de), womöglich (de) Greek: ίσως (el) (ísos) Ancient: ἴσως (ísōs) Hebrew: אוּלַי‎ (he) (ulái), יִתָּכֵן‎ (he) (yitakhén) Hindi: शायद (hi) (śāyad) Hungarian: talán (hu) Icelandic: kannski (is), kannske (is), máske, máski, ef til vill Ido: forsan (io) Indonesian: barangkali (id) Irish: is dócha, b'fhéidir Italian: forse (it), magari (it), chissà (it) Japanese: 多分 (ja) (たぶん, tabun), 若しや (もしや, moshiya), …かもしれない (ja) (...kamo shirenai), …でしょう (deshō) Kaingang: hẽn ri ke mũn Kazakh: мүмкін (kk) (mümkın) Khmer: ប្រហែល (km) (prɑhael) Korean: 아마 (ko) (ama), 아마도 (ko) (amado), 어쩌면 (ko) (eojjeomyeon) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: ڕەنگە‎ (renge), لەوانەیە‎ (ku) (lewaneye) Northern Kurdish: belkî (ku) Kyrgyz: балким (ky) (balkim), мүмкүн (ky) (mümkün) Lao: ບາງທີ (bāng thī), ອາດຈະ (ʼāt cha) Latin: fortasse, forsitan, fors, forsit, forte (la), forsan, fortassis Latvian: varbūt Ligurian: fòscia Lithuanian: gal (lt), galbūt Livonian: agā Low German: villicht (nds); viellichte (Eastern Westphalian), villichte (Eastern Westphalian) Macedonian: можеби (možebi) Malay: mungkin (ms), barangkali Maltese: forsi Maori: āwhai (before a verb or adjective), pea (mi) (after a verb or adjective) Mauritian Creole: devet Mbyá Guaraní: xapy'a rei Mongolian: Cyrillic: магадгүй (mn) (magadgüj) Navajo: daatsʼí North Frisian: flicht Norwegian: Bokmål: kanskje (no), kan hende, må hende Nynorsk: kanskje, kan henda, må henda Occitan: benlèu (oc), bensai (oc) Ojibwe: iindog, maagizhaa Old English: wēnunga Pashto: شايد‎ (ps) (šāyád) Persian: شاید‎ (fa) (šâyad) Plautdietsch: veleicht Polish: może (pl) Portuguese: talvez (pt) Punjabi: (please verify) शायद (hi) (śāyad), (please verify) ਹੋ ਸਕਦਾ (ho sakdā) Romanian: poate (ro) Russian: мо́жет быть (ru) (móžet bytʹ), возмо́жно (ru) (vozmóžno), наве́рное (ru) (navérnoje), то́ ли (ru) (tó li) (as a conjunction) Sanskrit: स्यात् (sa) (syāt) Scots: mibbe Scottish Gaelic: 's dòcha, 's mathaid Slovak: možno, azda (sk), vari Slovene: mogóče (sl), mordà (sl) Spanish: quizá (es), quizás (es), tal vez (es), acaso (es), (Argentina) capaz (es), (Colombia) de pronto, igual (es) Swedish: kanske (sv), möjligen (sv), måhända (sv) Tagalog: baka (tl) Tajik: шояд (tg) (šoyad) Tatar: бәлки (tt) (bälki), мөмкин (mömkin), ихтимал (tt) (ixtimal) Thai: คงจะ (kong-jà), บางที (th) (baang-tii), อาจจะ (àat-jà) Turkish: olabilir (tr), belki (tr) Turkmen: belki (tk) Ugaritic: 𐎎𐎐𐎄𐎓 (mndʿ) Ukrainian: ма́буть (mábutʹ), мо́же бу́ти (móže búty), можли́во (možlývo), (colloquial) мо́же (móže), пе́вно (pévno) Urdu: شاید‎ (ur) (śāyad) Uyghur: بەلكى‎ (belki), مۇمكىن‎ (mumkin) Uzbek: balki (uz), ehtimol (uz) Vietnamese: có lẽ (vi) Walloon: motoit (wa), kécfeye (wa), putete (wa) Welsh: dichon, efallai (cy), ella West Frisian: miskien Yiddish: אפֿשר‎ (efsher) Zazaki: belki (diq), qay (diq)

as a pro-sentence

Arabic: رُبَّمَا‎ (rubbamā), مِن اَلْمُمْكِن‎ (min al-mumkin) Armenian: միգուցե (hy) (migucʿe) Bashkir: бәлки (bälki), ихтимал (ixtimal) Chinese: Mandarin: 也許／也许 (zh) (yěxǔ), 或許／或许 (zh) (huòxǔ), 或是 (zh) (huòshì), 可能 (zh) (kěnéng) Czech: možná (cs) Danish: måske (da) Dutch: misschien (nl), het zou kunnen, mogelijk (nl) Faroese: kanska Finnish: voi olla French: peut-être (fr), c'est possible Galician: poida (gl), se cadra Gallo: ventieil' German: vielleicht (de), kann sein, gut möglich Hebrew: אוּלַי‎ (he) (ulái) Icelandic: kannski (is), kannske (is), máske, máski, ef til vill Irish: b'fhéidir Italian: forse (it), può essere Japanese: 多分 (ja) (たぶん, tabun) Maori: āwhai Norwegian: Bokmål: kan hende, kanskje det Portuguese: é possível, pode ser, talvez (pt) Russian: мо́жет быть (ru) (móžet bytʹ), возмо́жно (ru) (vozmóžno) Scottish Gaelic: 's dòcha, 's mathaid Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: мо̀жда, мо̏гӯће Roman: mòžda (sh), mȍgūće Slovak: možno Slovene: mogóče (sl) Spanish: es posible Swedish: kanske (sv), möjligen (sv) (if expressing doubts)

Adjective

maybe (comparative more maybe, superlative most maybe)

1. Possible; uncertain.
   • 1687, John Dryden, The Hind and the Panther, part III line 294

     Then add those may-be years thou hast to live

Noun

maybe (plural maybes)

1. (informal) Something that is possibly true.
2. (informal) An answer that shows neither agreement nor disagreement.

   The results of the poll were inconclusive. We got two yeses, three nos, and four maybes.

3. (informal) A future event that may or may not happen.

   About your raise: it's a big maybe.

Synonyms

• perhaps

Derived terms

• definite maybe

Anagrams

• Mabey, Mbaye, abyme, beamy, embay