perhaps

per·haps /pəˈhæps, præps $ pər-, præps/ S1 W1 adverbadv

1 MAYBEused to say that something may be true, but you are not sure 可能，大概，也许 SYN maybe

Perhaps she’s next door.

她也许在隔壁。

Perhaps it will snow tomorrow.

明天可能会下雪。

It won’t take so long next time, perhaps.

也许下次不用那么久。

‘I don’t think you understand.’ ‘Well, perhaps not.’

“我想你不明白。”“嗯，也许吧。”

In everyday English, people usually use may or might rather than use perhaps it/she/they etc will: 在日常英语中,人们常用may或might,而不用perhaps it/she/they etc will

It might snow tomorrow.

明天可能要下雪。

2 used to give your opinion, when you do not want to be too definite 也许〔用于表达不十分确定的观点〕 SYN maybe

This is perhaps her finest novel yet.

这或许是她迄今为止最好的一部小说。

The industrial revolution was, perhaps, the most important event in history.

工业革命也许是历史上最重要的事件。

3 MAYBEused to say that a number is only a guess 也许，可能〔用于表示某个数字仅仅是猜测〕 SYN maybe

The room was large, perhaps 20 feet square.

这个房间很大，可能有20英尺见方。

Perhaps 200 people were there.

那里可能有200人。

4 spokenSUGGEST used to politely ask or suggest something, or say what you are going to do 也许，或许〔用于表示礼貌的请求或建议，或自己将做什么〕 SYN maybe

I thought perhaps we’d have lunch in the garden.

我想或许我们可以在花园里吃午餐。

Examples from the Corpus

perhaps• It was a big space, perhaps 60 by 80 feet.• The problem can perhaps be addressed from the standpoint of theory.• Perhaps I could transfer you to our customer service department.• I wonder if perhaps I offended him somehow.• If conscience can not turn the tide, perhaps it is the panic of self-interest which will finally do the job.• Perhaps it'll be warmer tomorrow.• Well, perhaps it will and perhaps it won't.• Seen at the level of individual choices there is perhaps nothing remarkable about this shift from fringe to mainstream.• Perhaps their biggest problem is that they don't have enough to do.• It was perhaps unfortunate that in verbal controversy with T. H. Huxley he was less careful.• But perhaps we can waive our definitions and come to an understanding on the basis of an adjustment in the rent.• This has been planned for weeks. Perhaps you can change the other meeting.• Or perhaps you can redirect already capable people.

perhaps not• It is perhaps not fortuitous that Stein made the enormous effort to revive the publication when he did.• I am somewhat overstating this implication, but perhaps not greatly so.• Atlanta is heaven, perhaps not in the strictest Baptist sense, for the young and eager of the region.• Yet the matter is perhaps not quite so straight forward as this.• At second glance, Thanet, South is perhaps not such a typical Tory seat.• It is perhaps not surprising that such an interpretation should come to the fore in the implementation of normalisation.• It is very easy to pick up a meaning from a metaphor which was perhaps not the one intended.

Origin perhaps

(1400-1500) per + haps, plural of hap “chance” ((13-20 centuries)) ( → HAPPY)

per·haps adverbadv →REGISTER1

Chinese

Syllable

Corpus