maybe

See also: may be

English

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

From an ellipsis of Middle English 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
• maybeish

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) (laʕalla)

  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)
• Dutch: misschien (nl), wellicht (nl), mogelijk (nl), mogelijkerwijs (nl)
• Esperanto: eble
• Estonian: võib-olla (et), võibolla (et), ehk (et), järsku (et), vahest, äkki (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), कदाचित् (hi) (kadācit)
• 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 (ja) (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 (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)
• Marathi: कदाचित (mr) (kadācit)
• 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), porventura (pt), quiçá (pt), se calhar (pt), quem sabe, possivelmente (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), غالباً‎ (ġāliban)
• 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), porventura (pt), quiçá (pt), se calhar (pt), quem sabe, possivelmente (pt)
• Romanian: poate (ro)
• 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