也许 ...
The everyday hedge for 'maybe / perhaps.' Reach for this when you want to float a possibility without committing — your guess about the future, a soft prediction, a non-confrontational suggestion. 也许 sits at the start of the clause (or right after the subject) and signals 'I'm not sure, but maybe...' It's neutral in tone and works in speech and writing alike. Pair it with future-leaning verbs (会, 能) for predictions, or with past statements for cautious speculation about what happened.
Structure
(也许) [SUBJECT] (也许) [VERB PHRASE]
yěxǔ...
How to Think About It
也许 is an attitude marker, not a content word. It tells the listener 'treat what I'm about to say as a guess, not a fact.' It floats freely — you can put it at the very start of the sentence for general hedging, or after the subject for tighter hedging on the verb itself. Both work. The key contrast with 可能 is register: 也许 sounds slightly more thoughtful and literary; 可能 is more clinical. They're nearly interchangeable in meaning.
Examples
也许明天会下雨。
Yěxǔ míngtiān huì xiàyǔ.
Maybe it'll rain tomorrow.
他也许不知道。
Tā yěxǔ bù zhīdào.
Maybe he doesn't know.
也许有一天，我们会再见面。
Yěxǔ yǒu yītiān, wǒmen huì zài jiànmiàn.
Maybe one day we'll meet again.
Common Mistake
Learners stack 也许 with 可能 ('也许可能') because both mean 'maybe' and they want to sound extra tentative. In Chinese, only one hedge is needed — doubling up sounds redundant, like saying 'maybe possibly' in English.
也许可能下雨。
也许会下雨。
Don't Confuse With
可能 ...
Near-synonym, slightly more clinical and common in news and analysis. Use 可能 for quantifiable likelihood ('it's possible'); use 也许 for thoughtful, conversational uncertainty ('perhaps').
大概 ...
'Roughly / probably' — leans toward likely rather than uncertain. Use 大概 when you're fairly confident; use 也许 when you're genuinely unsure.
说不定 ...
'Who knows, maybe' — more casual and open-ended, often used for hopeful or surprising possibilities. Use 说不定 in speech when something might happen against expectation; use 也许 for general 'perhaps.'
Practice
Fill in: ___明天会下雨。
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也许
Fill in: 他也许不___道。
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知
Arrange: 也许 / 我们 / 一天 / 再 / 有 / 会 / 见面 / ，
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也许有一天，我们会再见面。
Translate: Maybe he's already left.
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也许他已经走了。
Write one sentence using 也许 to make a soft prediction.
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也许下个星期我会有时间。
Hear It in Real Episodes
This pattern appears in 1 Fluentide episode. Press play to hear the sentence:
Related Grammar Patterns
Acquire by listening
Hear 也许 ... in real Chinese, not in a textbook.
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