The TR Company

MAYBE AND PERHAPS

21/8/19 MAYBE AND PERHAPS

These two words mean the same. In British English both are common: maybeis used mostly in an informal style. Compare:

• Maybe/Perhaps it’ll stop raining soon.
• Julius Caesar is perhaps the greatest of Shakespeare’s early plays.

Perhaps is often pronounced “praps” by British people. In American English, perhaps is less common, and is rather formal.