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
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。
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!
3 Likes
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!
1 Like
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
Hi and welcome
Yes it is the plain form (普通形)
先生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。
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:
Unless I’m seeing something the yellow hint is saying that the blue hint is just wrong. And I got it wrong for putting in “maybe” when it wasn’t looking for maybe even though it told me to insert maybe
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.
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? "