“Maybe” and the more formal “perhaps” are both adverbs that convey modality related to uncertainty or possibility. For example:
So why did we keep trying when all the adults said it was impossible?
Well, maybe it‘s because we‘re kids.
We don’t know any better.
In this context, “maybe” is used to suggest a possible explanation or reason for why the kids kept trying despite the adults saying it was impossible. The speaker is speculating that their youthful ignorance or innocence might be the reason they continued to try. They didn’t fully understand the concept of impossibility as the adults did, so they kept trying. It’s a way of expressing a hypothesis or theory. So, “maybe” here introduces a conjecture or a potential answer to the question posed.
But perhaps the most important lesson was:
a private life makes a public life worth living.
In the given context, “perhaps” is used as an adverb to express a degree of uncertainty or doubt. The speaker is not completely sure but believes that “a private life makes a public life worth living” could be the most important lesson. The use of “perhaps” here indicates that this is an opinion or belief, and there might be other important lessons as well. It adds a tone of modesty to the statement.
Profiling Research
Here are two points in the English Grammar Profile (EGP) that overlap,
A2 point 13 in the category of MODALITY/adverbs is defined:
certainty and possibility (‘maybe’, ‘perhaps’), before a clause or ellipted clause.
All the examples in the EGP that are not before a clause are before prepositional phrases or noun phrases.
A2 point 22 in the category of ADVERBS modifiers:
limited range of adverbs (‘maybe’, ‘perhaps’) to indicate degrees of certainty.
*Note that we have covered ‘maybe‘ in more detail elsewhere because it is also listed at A1.
And ‘perhaps’ is A2 in the English Vocabulary Profile, regardless of position.
An iWeb search for:
. maybe|perhaps * * *
1 . MAYBE IT’S BECAUSE 2541
2 . MAYBE IT’S THE 2491
3 . MAYBE IT’S JUST 2351
4 . MAYBE IT’S A 2103
5 . MAYBE YOU WANT TO 1979
6 . MAYBE THAT’S WHY 1958
7 . MAYBE IT WAS THE 1669
8 . PERHAPS ONE OF THE 1550
PELIC STUDENT:
Perhaps one of the most controversial rules is the death penalty.
Arabic male level 5 writing class.
9 . MAYBE I’M JUST 1351
Maybe I‘m just a little tired.
10 . PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANTLY, 1344
And finally, perhaps most importantly,
you should be playing games with your kids
to understand the world that they‘re growing up in
and to have a conversation with them
about the role that they might play in it.
11 . PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT 1256
12 . MAYBE IT’S TIME 1217
13 . MAYBE YOU HAVE A 1191
14 . MAYBE I NEED TO 1106
15 . MAYBE THERE IS A 1103
16 . PERHAPS THIS IS WHY 1097
17 . PERHAPS THERE IS A 985
18 . MAYBE YOU NEED TO 980
19 . MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE 946
20 . MAYBE IT WAS A 928
21 . PERHAPS MORE IMPORTANTLY , 916
22 . PERHAPS IT WAS THE 899
23 . MAYBE IT WAS JUST 898
24 . MAYBE IT’S NOT 883
25 . PERHAPS THAT’S WHY 868
26 . PERHAPS YOU WANT TO 856
27 . MAYBE YOU DON’T 846
28 . MAYBE THERE’S A 845
29 . PERHAPS THIS IS THE 833
30 . MAYBE, JUST MAYBE 809
31 . PERHAPS IT WOULD BE 790
32 . PERHAPS THAT IS WHY 781
33 . PERHAPS IT’S BECAUSE 777
34 . MAYBE THIS IS THE 767
35 . MAYBE IT WAS BECAUSE 764
36 . PERHAPS IT’S THE 762
37 . PERHAPS IT IS THE 744
38 . MAYBE IT WOULD BE 736
39 . PERHAPS THE MOST FAMOUS 707
40 . PERHAPS THIS IS A 705
41 . MAYBE IT WILL BE 698
42 . MAYBE THIS IS A 697
43 . PERHAPS THIS IS BECAUSE 694
44 . MAYBE THAT’S THE 667
45 . MAYBE YOU DON’T 638
46 . MAYBE IT IS BECAUSE 625
47 . PERHAPS YOU HAVE A 623
48 . PERHAPS IT IS A 620
49 . PERHAPS YOU NEED TO 616
50 . PERHAPS IT IS BECAUSE 601
51 . MAYBE ONE OF THE 599
52 . PERHAPS IT’S A 595
53 . MAYBE IT IS A 583
54 . MAYBE IT IS THE 581
55 . MAYBE THAT’S WHAT 571
56 . MAYBE IN THE FUTURE 566
57 . PERHAPS IT WAS A 555
58 . MAYBE I’M WRONG 554
59 . MAYBE THAT IS WHY 550
60 . MAYBE I SHOULD JUST 544
61 . MAYBE I’LL TRY 528
62 . MAYBE THEY DON’T 521
63 . MAYBE THIS IS WHY 516
64 . PERHAPS IT’S TIME 507
65 . MAYBE SOME OF THE 504
66 . MAYBE IT IS JUST 490
67 . PERHAPS I SHOULD HAVE 490
68 . PERHAPS IT IS TIME 489
69 . MAYBE ONE DAY I 484
70 . MAYBE ITS TIME TO 476
71 . MAYBE ITS BECAUSE I 467
72 . PERHAPS THE BEST WAY 459
73 . MAYBE IT IS TIME 436
74 . MAYBE WE NEED TO 434
75 . MAYBE IT’S JUST ME 426
76 . MAYBE THAT’S BECAUSE 426
77 . MAYBE YOU CAN GET 418
78 . PERHAPS IT WAS BECAUSE 412
79 . PERHAPS THE MOST INTERESTING 411
80 . MAYBE I’LL JUST 385
81 . MAYBE THAT’S JUST 385
82 . MAYBE I’LL GET 382
83 . MAYBE I’M NOT 382
84 . PERHAPS IT’S JUST 372
85 . PERHAPS SOME OF THE 370
86 . MAYBE I AM JUST 368
87 . MAYBE I SHOULD TRY 364
88 . MAYBE THAT’S A 364
89 . MAYBE THERE WILL BE 364
90 . MAYBE THERE IS SOMETHING 355
91 . MAYBE I JUST NEED 354
92 . MAYBE SOME OF YOU 353
93 . MAYBE YOU CAN HELP 351
94 . PERHAPS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT 341
95 . MAYBE THIS WILL HELP 336
96 . PERHAPS IT WILL BE 336
97 . PERHAPS NOT SURPRISINGLY , 336
98 . MAYBE YOU CAN FIND 326
99 . MAYBE IT COULD BE 325
100 . MAYBE I CAN GET 324
A2 vocabulary highlighted above:
could, future, just, most, perhaps, should, try, way