不確定（留半開的門）
全部四種用法都是同一個核心——把話留半開、不講死。差別只在這扇半開的門對著什麼：一件可能的事、一個含糊的回答、一個約略的數字、或一個輕輕提出的建議。
perhaps · r · A2
Perhaps — something may be true or may happen, but you are not sure.
也許、可能
核心畫面
You can hear 'maybe' inside its own spelling — 'may be': it might be so, it might not. The core is leaving a door half-open: you set something out without committing to it. Every use is that same half-open door pointed at a different thing — a fact, an answer, a number, or a suggestion.
maybe 這個字本身就藏著它的意思——may be，「可能是、也可能不是」。核心可以想成「把一扇門留半開」：你把一…更多收起
maybe 這個字本身就藏著它的意思——may be，「可能是、也可能不是」。核心可以想成「把一扇門留半開」：你把一件事說出來，但不把話講死。每一種用法都是同一扇半開的門，只是對著不同的東西——一個事實、一個回答、一個數字，或一個建議。From the word’s history
Late Middle English, a shortening of the phrase 'it may be (that)' — literally 'it may be so'. The modern hedging sense is the old phrase compressed into one word.
晚期中古英語，由片語 it may be (that)（「可能是這樣」）縮成一個字。今天「不把話講死」的語氣，就是那句老片語壓縮成的單字。
etymonline.com/word/maybe
One branch
原始詞典資料7 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
maybeadv/ˈmeɪ.bi/
- 1
Perhaps, possibly.
- A small extra effort now can maybe save you much work later.
- Maybe I was imagining it, but I could swear that the dog understood what I was saying.
- 2
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.
- 3
Certainly.
- Maybe not the best idea.
maybeadj/ˈmeɪ.bi/
- 1
Possible; uncertain.
- Then add those may-be years thou hast to live
maybenoun/ˈmeɪ.bi/
- 1
informalSomething that is possibly true.
- 2
informalAn answer that shows neither agreement nor disagreement.
- The results of the poll were inconclusive. We got two yeses, three nos, and four maybes.
- 3
informalA future event that may or may not happen.
- About your raise: it's a big maybe.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。