FlagOnce Posted October 11, 2015 Report Share Posted October 11, 2015 You may think that both can be used interchangeably, if only. No, Frenchies are more boring than that when it comes to grammar, and that clearly shows for that peut être or peut-être problem. What's going on?Well, take "Tu es peut-être stressé ?" (Maybe you are too much stressed?). Here, peut-être is written with a "-" (an hyphen, basically) between the peut and être. But, now, take the "Cela peut être causé par une erreur du gouvernement." (This may be caused by an government's error). Here, it is written without hyphen. Why?The problem is more simple taken like this: peut-être is less central on the former sentence, than on the latter sentence. Basically, peut-être means "probably" meanwhile peut être is more like a conditional can. In the hope it helps you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrenchFries Posted October 13, 2015 Report Share Posted October 13, 2015 I think it's more helpful to simply mark 'peut-être' as an adverb (maybe) and 'peut être' as two conjugated verbs (may be). When I was taught 'peut-être,' my teacher defined it as 'maybe, perhaps' and I haven't had a problem with it since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlagOnce Posted October 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2015 (edited) I think it's more helpful to simply mark 'peut-être' as an adverb (maybe) and 'peut être' as two conjugated verbs (may be). When I was taught 'peut-être,' my teacher defined it as 'maybe, perhaps' and I haven't had a problem with it since. Meanwhile I admit I wasn't the clearest in my explanation, I think the adverb and all that grammar terminology should be avoided when learning grammar like here and not in a structured book. And even in a structured book, I find easier to get the meaning of a rule and to remember it than to remember a rule about adverb and so on that may get me lost quickly.I think grammar should be something natural and I try as much as possible to express it in a natural way, and not like a technical documentation like the laundry's documentation you may find when you buy one washing machine.Anyway, thanks for your contribution. Edited October 13, 2015 by FlagOnce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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