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Five Minute Study - SPANISH and ENGLISH compared Guía de la gramática inglesa...
En estas lecciones breves se comparan el inglés hablado y coloquial con el español con el fin de ayudar al estudiante a apreciar tanto las diferencias como las similitudes lingüísticas entre los dos idiomas.
Talking about possibility: common errors and observations.
English speakers should remember that there are other ways of expressing "perhaps" and "maybe" which are not "a lo mejor", "quizás" or "tal vez".
Quizá(s) mi hermano venga a verme la semana que viene. (Quizá(s) / Tal vez + subjunctive when referring to future event) Perhaps my brother will come and see me next week.
Quizá(s) / Tal vez fuese (fue) un error. (users may choose subjunctive or indicative when referring to past or present events) It might have been a mistake Perhaps it was a mistake
A lo mejor tiene un resfriado. (A lo mejor + indicative always) Maybe he's / she's got a cold.
These versions are perfectly acceptable, however, they should not be overused. "Puede que + subjunctive" is also very popular in today's spoken Spanish.
Puede que llueva mañana pero lo dudo mucho. It might rain tomorrow but I very much doubt it.
Puede que haya perdido el tren. Pasa siempre. He / She may have missed the train. It's always happening.
Also, as explained in a previous lesson, "igual" is common in speech especially in Spain:
Igual me quedo en casa esta noche. (Always used with indicative) I'll probably stay at home this evening.
Very common too is the use of "Es posible que + subj"
Es posible que conozca la respuesta. He may know the answer
Interestingly, by the way, that the Spanish cannot express the subtleties of "may" and "might"; the latter denoting less probability that the former.
As regards the Spanish learner, there is a tendency to speak a Spanglish or at least an overuse of "It's possible that... " when expressing possibility:
It's possible that I leave early today (!) Es posible que salga temprano hoy
Although this version may be acceptable it is obviously a direct translation from Spanish and students should try to use the modals, "may" and "might" more often:
I might leave early today Es posible que salga temprano hoy
After all the modal structure is far simpler and neater!
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