You may be a good writer—then again, maybe not

Although ‘maybe’ and ‘may be’ sound the same, they are not interchangeable.

Maybe is an adverb that means perhaps. It is a single word. Maybe also has its place as a noun, meaning an event or situation that’s not for certain—again spelled as one word.

May be is a two-word verb phrase that means something may or may not happen or something does or does not have a particular characteristic.

Maybe and may be are not interchangeable, even though they sound exactly the same. Consider these examples:

Adverb:

Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow.

Donnie’s cat was maybe eight to nine pounds overweight.

Maybe Stan has a good reason for being late.

Noun:

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