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English "Perhaps" or "Maybe" ? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| peppelanguage Triglot Groupie ItalyRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5870 days ago 90 posts - 94 votes  Speaks: Italian*, Spanish, English Studies: French, Swedish | Message 1 of 9 15 October 2009 at 3:17pm | IP Logged |
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Hi all!
I've always had this doubt: which is the difference between perhaps and maybe??? My professor 3 years ago told me that there is a veeeery slight difference that he would expect a C2 leveled guy to know (I was B2 at that time). Now I'm at C2.. Who can explain me that difference??? Thanks in advance Peppelanguage 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| lerner Groupie Germany Joined 5824 days ago 51 posts - 79 votes Speaks: Hindi* Studies: EnglishC2, GermanC1, Spanish, Dutch | Message 2 of 9 15 October 2009 at 3:57pm | IP Logged |
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You might want to go through the following link:
expressing possibility: perhaps/maybe, may/might I believe that should address your doubt Edited by lerner on 15 October 2009 at 3:57pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| peppelanguage Triglot Groupie ItalyRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5870 days ago 90 posts - 94 votes Speaks: Italian*, Spanish, English Studies: French, Swedish | Message 3 of 9 15 October 2009 at 4:18pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks!! This was very useful and clarifing :)
Thanks lerner! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| TheElvenLord Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6086 days ago 915 posts - 927 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Cornish, English* Studies: Spanish, French, German Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin | Message 4 of 9 15 October 2009 at 5:55pm | IP Logged |
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Hey, Im C2 (native) and I have no idea so you shouldn't be worrying :p
TEL 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6017 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 5 of 9 15 October 2009 at 7:27pm | IP Logged |
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Perhaps is quite rare in some areas -- many natives don't see the distinction as useful, so why preserve two words so similar in meaning? Some people used to say "mayhaps" (which I've only ever read in old books, and never heard except in old plays) but that's died out completely in the modern language.
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| pohaku Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5657 days ago 192 posts - 367 votes Speaks: English*, Persian Studies: Arabic (classical), French, German, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 6 of 9 15 October 2009 at 9:08pm | IP Logged |
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In Standard American English, to my knowledge, perhaps is not pronounced "praps," as is claimed in the BBC article (link above); it's "per-haps." Nor is there any significant difference that I can perceive between perhaps and maybe. And I just checked my dictionary and under "perhaps" the definition was "maybe."
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| maaku Senior Member United States Joined 5580 days ago 359 posts - 562 votes Speaks: English* | Message 7 of 9 15 October 2009 at 9:43pm | IP Logged |
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http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119.txt
It specifies the exact differences between these sorts of words for the purposes of official standards. Different from everyday spoken English, but it may be of interest to advanced English learners... 1 person has voted this message useful | |
 meramarina Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5973 days ago 1341 posts - 2303 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, French Personal Language Map | Message 8 of 9 15 October 2009 at 10:17pm | IP Logged |
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That's a good question, and I agree with the BBC reference. For me, the difference between the two words is very, very small, and they are almost synonymous. "Perhaps" sounds a little more formal and sometimes a little pretentious. I think that "maybe" is far more likely to occur in conversation, and "perhaps" in print. I decide which word to use mostly by intuition and by listening to the the sound of the entire sentence. Usually, either one is fine.
Two or more options being available to say essentially the same thing is characteristic of English. This can make it hard to decide which word to use, but also gives you a way to vary your word choice in ways that, hopefully, won't bore your reader! For example, if you repeat "maybe" too many times in a piece of writing, your reader will probably begin to doubt what you are trying to say. Thus, normally it is best to make your statements strong, and only use these words denoting uncertainty sparingly. Of course, it all depends on what you are writing, too. I hope that helped. Edited by meramarina on 15 October 2009 at 10:17pm 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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