Chinese word

也许

Pronunciation

Pinyinyě xǔ

Meaning

  • adverbmaybe

Example

也许明天会下雨。yé xǔ míng tiān huì xià yǔ

Maybe it will rain tomorrow.

Illustration for 也许 (maybe)

More examples

他也许不会来。tā yé xǔ bú huì lái

He may not come.

Core concept

A gentle marker that keeps a prediction in the possible range instead of making it a firm statement.

Common phrases

  • 也许会yé xǔ huì

    may

  • 也许不会yé xǔ bú huì

    may not

  • 也许吧yé xǔ ba

    maybe

Similar words

可能kě néng: Indicates that something is possible or has a chance of happening.
大概dà gài: Gives a rough guess about an event or an amount.

Definition in Chinese

表示对某事发生的可能性持不确定的推测，意味着事情有一定可能但尚未确定，常用于口语或书面语中。biǎo shì duì mǒu shì fā shēng de kě néng xìng chí bú què dìng de tuī cè yì wèi zhe shì qíng yǒu yí dìng kě néng dàn shàng wèi què dìng cháng yòng yú kóu yǔ huò shū miàn yǔ zhōng

Word origin

也 (yě, "also") + 许 (xǔ, "allow") form an adverb in which the idea of allowing something extends naturally to allowing that it may happen.

Usage tips

  • This adverb can describe a whole sentence, not just one action, which makes it useful when a speaker is guessing about an entire event.

Opposites

Word lists with this word