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Auxiliary Adjective (い)
| Can't tell if ~ | Might |
| 【Related Expression: だろう; に違いない; そうだ2】 |
(ksa). 午後雨が降るかもしれない・かもしれません。
It might rain in the afternoon.
(ksb). あの先生の授業は詰らないかもしれない・かもしれません。
That teacher's class might be dull.
(ksc). 京都の桜はまだ奇麗かもしれない・かもしれません。
The cherry blossoms in Kyoto might still be beautiful.
| (i){V/Adjective い} informal | かもしれない | |
| {話す /話した}かもしれない | Someone might talk/might have talked | |
| {高い /高かった}かもしれない | Something might be high/might have been high | |
| (ii){Adjective な stem/ Noun} | {Øだった}かもしれない | |
| {静か静かだった}かもしれない | Something might be quiet/might have been quiet | |
| {先生先生だった}かもしれない | Someone might be a teacher/might have been a teacher |
(a). 今年の冬は大変寒くなるかもしれません。
It might be very cold this winter.
(b). あの人は今日のパーティーのことを忘れたかもしれません。
He might have forgotten about today's party.
(c). この映画はあなたにつまらないかもしれません。
This movie might be uninteresting for you.
(d). 中国語の文法は日本語の文法より簡単かもしれない。
Chinese grammar might be simpler than Japanese grammar.
(e). あれは鈴木先生かもしれないよ。
That might be Professor Suzuki.
【Related Expressions】
I. The probability of accuracy predicted by a かもしれない sentence is lower than that of a だろう sentence and much lower than that of a に違いいない sentence as diagrammed below:
| low probability | high probability | |
| かもしれない | だろう | に違いない |
The Japanese weatherman on radio or TV, for example, employs でしょう (the formal version of だろう) in his forecasts as in the following:
[1]
II. Verbます/Adjective(い/な) stem そうだ is used when the speaker's conjecture is based primarily on visual or other perceptual evidence, but かもしれない is not; rather the latter is used when that conjecture is based on logical reasoning. Thus,
[2]
(⇨ ようだ)