かもしれない details
write + might
kaku kamo shirenai
might; may possibly
meaning: might write
午後から雪になるかもしれない。
gogo kara yuki ni naru kamo shirenai.
It might turn to snow in the afternoon. formal
明日、ちょっと遅れるかも。
ashita, chotto okureru kamo.
I might be a bit late tomorrow. casual
- contraction
- colloquial
- past
- polite
Examples
might; may — flags a mere possibility without leaning either way
午後から雪になるかもしれません。
gogo kara yuki ni narukamoshiremasen.
It might turn to snow in the afternoon. formal
明日、ちょっと遅れるかも。
ashita, chotto okureru kamo.
I might be a bit late tomorrow. casual
鍵を会社に忘れてきたかもしれない。
kagi o kaisha ni wasurete kita kamo shirenai.
I may have left my keys at the office. neutral
Formation
{V}かもしれないattaches to dictionary form{N}かもしれないattaches to nounna-adj + かもしれないattaches to na-adjective
Variant notes
- かも — sentence-final clip, very casual — 遅[おく]れるかも。
- かもしんない — relaxed pronunciation of しれない in fast casual speech
Notes
Related patterns
Similar
A certainty dial — かもしれない keeps the odds at or below a coin flip ("might"), でしょう leans clearly toward yes ("probably"); both slot into polite speech as かもしれません and でしょう.
Both hedge at "maybe", but かもしれない asserts the possibility as a statement and scales to any register (かもしれません), while かな asks the same maybe of yourself and stays casual and spoken — no standard polite かな exists; upward, use でしょうか.
Lookalikes
Both tails end in ない, but only はずがない's ない negates — かもしれない's しれない is frozen, so 来るかもしれない admits exactly the possibility that 来るはずがない categorically rules out.