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peut-être. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
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French
Etymology
From peut (“(it) can”, “(it) may”) + être (“be”). Equivalent to Catalan potser, English maybe.
Pronunciation
Adverb
peut-être
- maybe, perhaps
Peut-être que je vais bientôt partir.- Maybe I will leave soon.
Est-ce que tu veux venir avec moi demain? Peut-être.- Do you want to come with me tomorrow? Maybe.
2018, Zaz (lyrics and music), “J'aime j'aime”:J’aime regarder le néant et me dire qu’il y a peut-être quelqu’un quelque part au bout du monde qui pense à la même seconde à la même chose que moi.- I like to look at nothingness and tell myself maybe there's someone somewhere at the end of the world who thinks at the same second of the same thing as me.
Usage notes
Not to be confused with peut être (“may be”)
Synonyms
(colloquial): p’t-être, p’t-êt’
Derived terms
Further reading