Note 14 – Is it ‘Maybe’ or ‘May be’?

Good evening.  It’s been two weeks since I began my writing challenge and I have learnt so much.  Firstly. I would like to thank all my regular readers for the time you take to read my blogs and secondly for those who have subscribed and left comments.   

For the background to my writing challenge, please read my first blog by clicking the following link – http://wp.me/p1x6Ui-4.  If you would prefer to dive straight into note 14, then please read on…

‘Maybe’ and ‘May be’

Today I am going to blog about the difference between ‘Maybe’ and ‘May be’.  It shouldn’t take up too much of your time and it will hopefully will be easy to remember. 

1. MAYBE

‘Maybe’ is an adverb and another word for perhaps.  The example below illustrates this:  

“Maybe you could show me how to play the piano tomorrow” 

2. MAY BE

‘May be’ is a verb phrase and you cannot substitute these two words with the word perhaps (according to ‘The Queen’s English’ by Bernard C Lamb, a verb phrase is a combination of two verbs).  The example below illustrates how to use may be in a sentence:

“Some of you may be wondering how I decide what I am going to blog about each day… “

To continue with the above sentence…to tell you the truth, I don’t usually decide what to blog about until the day.  I either flick through all my books until something catches my eye, or take requests from work colleagues.  If you have any specific requests for me to blog about i.e. grammar, punctuation or other writing issues, please feel free to contact me.

That’s all for today…

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

This blog: www.mywritingnotes.wordpress.com

My other blog: www.sandramadeira.wordpress.com

My website: www.tipsandluxuries.com

Twitter: @madeirasandra  and  @tipsandluxuries

Reference list

Bernard C. Lamb The Queen’s English (2010), UK