May be or maybe?
may be is an adverb meaning “the words may and be, each in its own sense”; maybe is an adverb meaning “Perhaps, possibly”. may be is written as two words and maybe as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between may be and maybe?
| may be | maybe | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adverb | adverb, adjective, noun |
| Meaning | Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see may, be | Perhaps, possibly Perhaps that is true (expressing no commitment to a decision or a neutral viewpoint to a statement) Possible; uncertain |
| Example | none recorded | A small extra effort now can maybe save you much work later |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /ˈmeɪ.bi/ [ˈmeɪ̯.bi] /mɛˈbiː/ |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | 282 times per million words |
Sources: may be and maybe in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of may be and maybe
may be
- 1
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see may, be
maybe
- 1
Perhaps, possibly
A small extra effort now can maybe save you much work later
- 2
Possible; uncertain
- 3
informalSomething that is possibly true
- 4
Perhaps that is true (expressing no commitment to a decision or a neutral viewpoint to a statement)
Okay. See you later, maybe. – Maybe I’ll see you later
- 5
informalAn answer that shows neither agreement nor disagreement
The results of the poll were inconclusive. We got two yeses, three nos, and four maybes
- 6
UKCertainly
Maybe not the best idea
- 7
informalA future event that may or may not happen
About your raise: it's a big maybe
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, may be or maybe?
may be is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; maybe 282 times per million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search may be vs maybe?
“may be vs maybe” is searched about 2,400 times a month on Google and 100 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“maybe vs may be”, “may be or maybe”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.