Introduction
In Japanese, かもしれません (kamoshiremasen) is used to express the possibility that something may happen or be true. It indicates uncertainty, and is often used when you’re less sure than when you use でしょう (deshou). This blog post will guide you through how to use かもしれません in different situations.
What It Means
かもしれません (kamoshiremasen) means “maybe” or “might.” It’s used to express that something is possible but not certain. In casual speech, you can shorten it to かもしれない (kamoshirenai) or just かも (kamo).
When You Use It
You use かもしれません when you want to say that something might happen or that something could be true. It adds an element of uncertainty to your statements.
Examples
Here are some examples to help you understand how to use かもしれません:
- あしたは雪が降るかもしれません。
(Ashita wa yuki ga furu kamoshiremasen.)
It may snow tomorrow. - 田中さんは、子供の時、いじわるだったかもしれません。
(Tanaka-san wa, kodomo no toki, ijiwaru datta kamoshiremasen.)
Tanaka may have been a bully when he was a kid.
When the last part of a sentence is a noun or a な-adjective in the present tense, you put かもしれません directly after the noun or な-adjective, without だ (da).
- リーさんはベトナム人だ。→ リーさんはベトナム人かもしれません。
(Rii-san wa Betonamu-jin da. → Rii-san wa Betonamu-jin kamoshiremasen.)
Lee is Vietnamese. → Lee may be Vietnamese. - 佐藤先生は犬がきらいだ。→ 佐藤先生は犬がきらいかもしれません。
(Satou-sensei wa inu ga kirai da. → Satou-sensei wa inu ga kirai kamoshiremasen.)
Professor Satou doesn’t like dogs. → Professor Satou may not like dogs.
Note
You can add かもしれません to the short forms of verbs and adjectives in both the affirmative and negative, as well as in the present and past tenses. In casual speech, you can use the shorter versions like かもしれない or かも.
マイクさんはマリアさんより背が低いかもしれない。
(Maiku-san wa Maria-san yori se ga hikui kamoshirenai.)
Mike might be shorter than Maria.
来週は天気がよくないかも。
(Raishuu wa tenki ga yokunai kamo.)
The weather might not be good next week.
Conclusion
Mastering かもしれません (kamoshiremasen) will help you express uncertainty and possibility in Japanese.
