What does peut-être in French mean?

What is the meaning of the word peut-être in French? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use peut-être in French.

The word peut-être in French means maybe, maybe, perhaps, possibly, perchance?, maybe. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word peut-être

maybe

adverbe (c'est possible)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Est-ce qu'il viendra ? Peut-être.
Will he come? Maybe.

maybe, perhaps, possibly

adverbe (éventualité, probabilité)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Paul arrivera peut-être ce soir. Peut-être est-il temps de changer le modèle économique ?
Paul might arrive this evening. It may be time to change the economic model.

perchance?

adverbe (en fin de phrase marque le défi) (formal)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Tu me prends pour un imbécile peut-être ?
Perhaps you think I'm an idiot?

maybe

adverbe (environ)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Il y avait peut-être cinquante personnes à la réunion.
There were maybe fifty people at the meeting.

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French (le français) is a Romance language. Like Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, it comes from popular Latin, once used in the Roman Empire. A French-speaking person or country can be called a "Francophone". French is the official language in 29 countries. French is the fourth most spoken native language in the European Union. French ranks third in the EU, after English and German, and is the second most widely taught language after English. The majority of the world's French-speaking population lives in Africa, with about 141 million Africans from 34 countries and territories who can speak French as a first or second language. French is the second most widely spoken language in Canada, after English, and both are official languages at the federal level. It is the first language of 9.5 million people or 29% and the second language of 2.07 million people or 6% of the entire population of Canada. In contrast to other continents, French has no popularity in Asia. Currently, no country in Asia recognizes French as an official language.