1. maybe 副词,意为“可能”、“也许”,通常用于句首,有时也放在句中或句末;may be 是情态动词“may”加动词“be”,意为“可能是”、“可能在”等。比较以下各组句子,含义相同,但结构不同:

你也许是对的。

正:Maybe you are right.

正:You may be right.

他可能迷路了。

正:Maybe he has lost the way.

正:He may have lost the way.

正:It may be that he has lost the way.

 

2. 副词 maybe 可单独用作答语,但 may be 不能这样用。如:

A:Do you think he’ll come back? 你认为他会回来吗?

B:Maybe. (Maybe not.) 也许会回来吧(也许不会回来吧)。