perhaps

«perhaps» in Mova's school dictionary: possible but not certain — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adverb

meaning for a pupil

1) Perhaps means maybe; it is possible but not certain. tree →

2) Used to make a request or idea sound polite. tree →

sense in the lessons

Used in stories and talk to show something is not sure: "Perhaps it will rain." In maths and science it shows a guess or prediction, not a fact. Polite use: "Perhaps you could help me?"

examples

• Perhaps it will snow tomorrow. tree →
• Perhaps the cat is hiding under the bed. tree →
• Perhaps you could close the window, please. tree →
• "Will you come?" "Perhaps." tree →
• Perhaps the answer is 12, but let me check. tree →
• She was perhaps the fastest runner in the school. tree →
• Perhaps we should take an umbrella. tree →
• “Perhaps he is ill,” Michael said. tree →

note

Same meaning as "maybe" and "possibly"; "perhaps" sounds a little more formal. Usually at the start of a sentence. It never means "definitely".

In the corpora

• Africa kept more of its big animals, perhaps because they grew up alongside people and learned to fear them.
• He's kind and good-natured — though perhaps not very clever, and rather boastful and conceited.
• Perhaps he's not very clever ... and it may be that he is both boastful and conceited.»
• Perhaps some other day — when we've more time».
• The book calls it «perhaps the most conceited song that any animal ever composed».

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «perhaps» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.