かもしれないMight, Maybe, Probably

Colloquial: かも or かもしらん, Polite: かもしれません

Structure

Verb + かもしれない
［い］Adjective + かもしれない
［な］Adjective + かもしれない
Noun + かもしれない

Details

About かもしれない

かもしれない is an expression in Japanese that is often treated as a single word, but is actually the combination of the particle かも, and the potential form of the う-Verb 知(し)る (to know) with the auxiliary verb ない attached. かもしれない is regularly translated simply as 'might', or 'maybe', but the literal translation is much closer to 'even (A), we cannot know'.

To use かもしれない, attach it to the end of any verb, noun, な-Adjective or い-Adjective, in their non-polite (keigo) forms.

As the う-Verb 知(し)る is part of this construction, it may also be altered to its polite-potential form, creating かもしれません.

Due to かもしれない being such a common grammar pattern in daily speech for expressing uncertainty about various things, several colloquial forms also exist. These are かも, かもしらん, and かもしれん.

かも is by far the most common of these colloquial forms, with かもしらん potentially sounding a little bit rough/boyish.

Examples

--:--

そうかもね。

That might be right.

彼女(かのじょ)がまた遅(おく)れるかもしれません。

She might be late again.

来年(らいねん)アメリカに行(い)くかもしれない。

I might go to America next year.

このいい服(ふく)を買(か)えば、人気(にんき)になるかもしれない。

If I buy these nice clothes, then I might become popular.

そういうことを言(い)わないほうがいいかもしれない。

It is maybe better to not say such things.

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- Using 「かもしれない」 to express uncertainty
  Tae Kim
- かもしれません
  LearnJapaneseAdventure
- かもしれません
  TalkInJapan

Offline
- [DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
  Page 173
- Genki II 1st Edition
  Page 33
- Genki II 2nd Edition
  Page 55
- Marugoto Elementary 2 (A2) Rikai
  Page 157
- Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
  Page 239
- TRY! Japanese Language Proficiency N4
  Page 82
- みんなの日本語 II
  Page 48 [CH 32]
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かもしれない – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (8 in total)

Jake
might・maybe, probably
Structure
- Verb + かもしれない
- Noun + かもしれない
- いAdj + かもしれない
- なAdj + かもしれない
View on Bunpro
deltacat3
Apologies if this is unrelated to the actual grammar point discussed here, but in this example sentence in my reviews has me stumped. What is なの and what is it doing here?

イルカみたいに泳いでいるから、本当にいるかなのかもしれません。
Pushindawood
Hey! I apologize for the late reply. There is an excellent Japanese StackExchange thread that covers this topic that I will quote here:

"The なの that you’re asking about is really just の. The な is only there if you use it after a noun or a na-adjective…

…なの relates to the ～のだ construction, and as such provides explanatory, secondary, or supporting information (which could be a reason, a cause, or other fact the speaker feels would aid in the listener’s understanding)…

…the use of の implies that the preceding sentence plays a supporting role in the surrounding context. It’s still important, but the role it plays is more like that of a framework which buttresses the speaker’s main point."

Cheers!
deltacat3
Ah! so that’s what it was!

Its nice to know we have already been taught its function, though I feel silly I didn’t grasp this myself haha >_<. Thanks again Pushinda!
Menna2828
the verb before かもしれない, is put in theふつけ？
なります >> なるかもしれない
matt_in_mito
Hi and welcome
Yes it is the plain form (普通形ふつうけい)
先生せんせいになるかもしれない - I might become a teacher.
The reason for this is that if you want to make a sentence polite, ます comes at the end - it is a sentence ending politeness indicator. Therefore having two ます in one sentence looks strange.
So to take my example sentence to the next level of politeness, it would be 先生になるかもしれません。
Superpnut
I recently got a review on this and received an useless hint.

Question was そのことを言わないほうがいい — to which I put in から
The blue hint text was : Maybe

I received this:

maybe846×326 14...
wrt7MameLZE33wlmpCAV
I have a feeling that nuance hint is shown for any example sentence of this grammar point. It’s an unfortunate incongruity in this case. かな can in fact mean “maybe,” but usually in the context of thinking to oneself. For instance,

晩飯はピザを食べようかな。

Maybe I’ll eat pizza for dinner; or, I think I’ll eat pizza for dinner

かな and かもしれない aren’t synonymous, though. かな expresses doubt, reflection, or wishful thinking. かもしれない expresses the potential for something being or not being a certain way. Also, I don’t think you would generally use かな when making a suggestion to another.

But your point about the nuance note is cogent. I suggest using the Report button in the lower right-hand corner (it shows up when you get the answer wrong) whenever you find things like this to help draw awareness to the issue so the staff can correct it.
X11
the literal translation is much closer to ‘even (A), we cannot know’. should it not be "perhaps it’s not able to be known as かも means perhaps? "