This is an All Ears English podcast episode 2021.
What is the difference between perhaps and probably in English?
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When should you use probably and when should you use perhaps?
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Hey Aubrey, what's shaking today?
How are you?
I'm great, I'm feeling good.
I'm feeling good, I'm excited to get into today's topic.
Uh, do you have a question for me here?
Yeah, I want to know would you ever go skydiving?
Oh, have you been?
I guess I don't know.
Have you been?
I've never been skydiving me, neither I've been parasailing, but never skydiving.
So would I ever go?
Probably not Same.
No, thank you.
I've seen a few videos of like chutes not opening and I just so scary and terrible.
So just a quick in case you guys aren't aware, really fast the different skydiving.
You jump out of a plane and it's just you in a parachute.
And then you mentioned parasailing.
I've done that as well.
That's where you're like attached to a boat.
There's also a parachute, but you're behind a boat.
And in general, it seems you're not nearly as high up yeah, and you're usually.
You're above water and much safer in a few ways.
I did it in rocky point just this last time i was there.
It was so fun oh, just recently, okay.
Okay, when did you go?
Oh, long time ago, when i was like 12 years old in california.
Yeah yeah, i'm not sure if i would actually do that now either.
To be honest, i think i'm getting less brave physically brave as i get older, because i just have more fear.
I don't know, when you're 12, you're like whatever, Anything can happen.
I'm fine.
So here's my question.
When we're talking today about the difference between perhaps and probably.
So if I say, would you ever go skydiving?
How would it be different if you answered perhaps or if you answered probably?
Great question.
So if I had said perhaps my answer, I would have put a subject there, right?
Perhaps I would.
But we got to give a little more, right?
Perhaps.
And then I feel like I need to share why.
Why am I saying perhaps?
And with probably, I just said probably not.
And that's enough.
That's native.
That's natural.
So what is the difference, Aubrey?
Yeah, right.
We're going to dive into this today.
It's a little nuanced, but hopefully by the end it'll be pretty clear what they mean and which one you should use when.
This actually was a really good questioner from a listener Pravin, who emailed in the question what's the difference between perhaps and probably?
A very good question, it's a great question, it's a great one, so let's go into.
You know the meaning, right?
What do they mean?
What about so?
They both mean maybe.
Probably is definitely more of a yes right, if would you go skydiving, probably.
It's like yeah maybe yeah probably yes, right.
Yeah, there's a different yes definitely, a different implied willingness and a different implied politeness in certain contexts too.
So, like you said, probably is more of a yes and perhaps is more of a maybe, and it can change depending on the tone we use too.
A hundred percent.
So, and we do use these basically to answer a question mostly, would you say or are there other contexts?
There is.
We are going to talk about an exception, but in general, we use these most often to answer a question.
Yes.
I love it.
Okay.
So let's get into it.
Tell us about when we're answering a question here.
What do we need to know?
So or to make a request.
Right.
But this is first we'll talk about answering a question with perhaps.
And we're going to jump right in and do a little mini role play to show how this might work.
Start us out, Lindsay.
All right.
Hey, want to meet me for coffee tomorrow?
Perhaps.
OK.
So this is sort of the wrong the example where you said i would feel like i would need to add something after perhaps why, how did that feel?
Oh, you left me hanging.
You love me thinking.
Oh, i don't really know if she likes me very much or wants to spend.
It also feels very formal.
Um, it was.
It feels a little rude, a little short, a little cold.
Right yeah, you have to.
If you're just going to say perhaps, you really need to say why.
Why are you saying perhaps, or it feels rude Yeah,
And you also need to know that it is a little bit fancier sounding.
It does.
You know, even if you continue and you say more formal.
Right.
Like even if you continue to say perhaps, but I'll have to check my schedule.
It feels formal, which naturally does create distance in that direction.
Yeah.
Yes.
Right.
So if, if you are answering someone you don't know well, or you know a doctor or something, this this feels very appropriate.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Perhaps, right?
Are you available March 22nd at six for an appointment with a doctor?
Perhaps, but let me check my schedule.
Whereas if it's a close friend, this might always be a little too informal, a little too formal.
Yeah, I totally agree.
So be careful.
So there's a few things to think about here when we choose the word.
And that, of course, is for American English, because this might be much more common in other English speaking countries.
To Americans, it feels quite formal.
Yeah, it might be different.
Yeah, we focus on this show, guys, on American English.
We really can't speak with much authority on British English, Aussie English.
So we have had guests from those countries on before and will in the future.
They can speak with authority where we can't.
So again with to answer a question now we're going to look at probably, which is a little different.
Let's do again, dive right into a role play here.
All right.
I'm hosting a dinner party at my home this weekend.
Are you free?
Probably.
How did that feel?
I like that a lot better.
It is much better.
I feel like there is still a little bit of rudeness for me just to be like, probably.
I feel like I need to say why.
Maybe like, probably, but my mom's in the hospital, so I may have to play it by ear.
Yeah, you still are leaving that ambiguity.
So it's just not enough.
It's not enough.
Exactly.
If you're not going to give an outright yes, anything else is like, okay, why?
Why are you not willing to come to my party?
I need to know why.
Give me some reasons.
Yeah.
Okay.
So that is the first situation then, Aubrey.
To answer a question, what would be number two?
The second situation.
Yeah.
So this is to make a request.
And this most often you'll hear this with perhaps.
Like for example... perhaps you should close the window.
And it is almost a little passive aggressive.
People do say this, right?
It means the same thing as could you close the window?
What do you think, Lindsay?
Would you say it this way?
Well, it all depends on the context.
Am I already in a situation that you would end up with some passive aggressiveness?
Are the personalities passive aggressive?
It still depends on the context, but yes, I agree.
It does have hints and tones of passive aggressiveness for sure.
And we use it to be facetious.
Right.
Here's an example.
And this is where tone really matters.
I might say, perhaps you should stop winning every game and then maybe I'll want to play with you.
We're with our tone instead of just saying hey, if you don't stop winning every game, I'm not going to play with you.
Instead, this word facetious where you say we're almost a little sarcastic.
We're being a little more playful with it.
That's more playful.
And you need the tone.
Yeah, that feels a little more benevolent.
Right.
It's not it's not that passive aggressive.
Perhaps you should close the window.
Right.
But yeah, there's a lot we can do here for sure.
And then there's a slangy version with probably, but this is very informal.
You might hear someone say like, probably she heard you.
And again, very slangy, very regional.
You might not hear it everywhere.
It means the same as she probably heard you.
Okay.
But this sort of very slangy version.
So let's do a mini role play so we can hear it.
I see.
Okay.
So why do you think she's not talking to me?
Probably she didn't like when you yelled at her yesterday, right?
So this is where we might hear it.
It's always going to sort of add emphasis and you need that intonation, otherwise you would just say she probably didn't like it when, right.
But because I'm sort of being facetious again, a little sarcastic like uh, maybe you shouldn't have done that right, I put probably before for this emphasis, okay.
So again, just to be totally clear for our listeners, which of these is what they'd see in a textbook?
Which of the two?
Probably the second one, right?
The more standard one.
Sure.
You're going to learn in a textbook.
You know she probably didn't like when you yelled at her and you'll have probably defined as maybe you know, same as maybe she didn't like it when you did that.
But the rest of this, you're not going to learn from a textbook that slimy way or how to use it.
Like to learn the sort of facetious, sarcastic ways that need this interesting intonation.
You can't get that from a textbook.
You really can't.
That's why I love this, that we're bringing this in.
And yeah, so you.
So, Aubrey.
When you're talking to your friends or your family, you hear this too right.
Like maybe more than she probably, probably.
She didn't like this beginning the sentence with probably.
Yeah.
And I'm curious if you do as well.
We say this a lot in the Northwest United States, in Idaho.
You'll hear this a lot where a sentence is started with probably.
It's maybe regional.
It's very slang.
But I do also hear it sometimes in TV shows movies, but always in this kind of situation where someone is doing it intentionally to add sarcasm, to add that condescending, but Try you know, playful tone.
Right.
Otherwise, it would just sound ungrammatical.
But we're using it intentionally instead of saying she probably didn't like it.
We're switching the grammar and adding intonation to give this to to create the sarcasm.
Yeah.
And that's what we can do when we reach that level of fluency.
We can break the rules and do it for a reason and know that we're breaking the rules and have fun with it, right?
I would say in my region, or especially in the Northeast, because that's where I'm from originally.
Not so much, not as much, but I definitely have heard it for sure.
Just wouldn't be what I would go to, necessarily.
But we break other rules.
You know Austin accent, I mean, forget it.
It's a nightmare.
Wherever you go, there are rules that are broken.
It just depends on which ones for which regional dialect, absolutely.
For sure, for sure.
So what's the takeaway for today, Aubrey?
Yeah.
So there are so many ways to say maybe, right?
Two of them we covered today, perhaps and probably, but also possibly we'll see.
There are a lot and each can have implied meaning.
So you need to sort of know the nuance, the implication behind them.
So you use the right one, because you could potentially create a misunderstanding or offense if you accidentally use the wrong one.
Oh my gosh.
It used to drive me nuts.
I would get a lot of we'll see from like parent figures.
You know, my friend's parents or my own parents.
Can we get ice cream?
We'll see.
It would drive me nuts as a kid.
Oh, my gosh.
We have to do another episode on that one.
I know I say that to my kids all the time.
And one of my children always if I say we'll see or maybe he says, I'll take that as a yes.
Yes.
That's so clever.
Every time.
So I have to like, well, no, that's not a yes.
That's a maybe.
I love it.
So smart.
I wish I had been that smart as a kid.
I know, right?
Same.
That's so funny.
That's so good.
I'm glad we went into this nuance difference, right?
I mean, we have to know these nuances.
And in my mind, a big piece of the takeaway today is that once you get to that high level of fluency, guys pay attention to your regional dialect.
Where are you living?
If you're living in the States, What are the rules that people are breaking and why?
And what is the tone that creates?
Very interesting for connections.
Oh, so interesting.
Awesome.
Lindsay, this is a really fun chat.
Perhaps I will see you tomorrow.
Probably.
I would say so.
Yes.
All right.
Take care.
Bye.
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