# may vs maybe

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### may
*verb · IPA /meɪ/ · frequency rank #110*
To be strong; to have power (over).

### maybe
*adverb · IPA /ˈmeɪ.bi/ · frequency rank #338*
Perhaps, possibly.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/may-vs-maybe