# Perhaps I'll say Maybe, or Maybe I'll say Perhaps...



## GreedyGreen

Is there a difference in Greek between the usage of the two words *μήπως* and *ίσως* (sorry, I may have the spelling wrong for these as I'm typing from memory) that both seem to be translated as _perhaps_ or _maybe_? In English _perhaps_ and _maybe_ are virtually interchangeable - is the same true for the two Greek words?

Thanks again
Dave


----------



## Tetina

Hi there Dave. Nice and complicated questions you have going on. 

First of all, the spelling is correct.

Second, my dictionary gives: 
_μήπως_=by any chance...
_ίσως_=perhaps, maybe, may, might

Third, what comes to my mind for now is that _μήπως_ is used in interrogative clauses as:

Μήπως είδες τον Κώστα; = Did you see Costas by any chance?
Μήπως έχεις καφέ;= Do you have coffe by any chance?
whrereas _ίσως_ is used in affirmative clauses:


Ίσως είδες τον Κώστα (καθώς έβγαινες). = Maybe you saw Costas (in your way out).
Ίσως τα νέα ελληνικά να είναι πιο εύκολα απο τα αρχαία. = Maybe Modern Greek are easier than Ancient.
Fourth, in answers of the type "-I don't know, maybe." you only use _ίσως_.*

- Θα βγείς έξω σήμερα; = Will you go out today?
- Δεν ξέρω... ίσως.= I don't know, maybe.

* _Μπορεί_ is an other type of answer you can use.

Those for now... Let's wait for cross-checking though.


----------



## anthodocheio

_Ίσως, πιθανόν, ενδεχομένως, μπορεί_. All of them mean _perhaps_ and _maybe_. Quite interchangeable.

_Μήπως_, as Tetina said, has other meaning and use.
That's how I would translate those sentences...


Tetina said:


> Μήπως είδες τον Κώστα; = Did you see Costas by any chance? or Is there any chance that you saw Costas?
> Μήπως έχεις καφέ;= Do you have coffe by any chance? or Is there any chance that you have coffee?


I hope my English is correct. If not, please say so..


----------



## Vagabond

I'll second Tetina and anthodocheio, *μπορεί* and *ίσως* are used interchangeably. My personal preference is to translate maybe as μπορεί and perhaps as ίσως (for semantic reasons), but that's just a personal quirk, as there is no real difference in usage.

As for *μήπως*, I'd go with "Did you happen to see Costas?" and "Do you happen to have any coffee?" in the above examples (just to show the different translating options *μήπως* gives you, basically).

So, *μήπως* = ίσως, but *μπορεί* != ίσως, μήπως (to get geeky on you )


----------



## GreedyGreen

Thanks again everyone,

Thinking of μήπως as "by any chance" makes the distinction much clearer for me. I'm so glad I found this forum - you guys are all so helpful!

Dave


----------



## oh_kristine

My textbook suggests also "I wonder if" as a possible translation for μήπως:

Μήπως θα είναι και ο Γιάννης εκεί;   ->   Will John be there too, I wonder?

and that άραγε means almost the same:

Άραγε θα έρθει;



Μήπως θα είναι σωστές αυτές οι πληροφορίες;


----------



## Kevman

*Μήπως* also works as "lest" or "in case":
 Δε θα καθίσω στην καρέκλα αυτή, μήπως καταρεύσει.
_I won't sit in this chair, lest it collapse._
(I _hope _that example works! )

In expressions denoting fear I believe it can be interchangeable with μη(ν):
 Φοβήθηκα μή με βρούνε.
Φοβήθηκα μήπως με βρούνε.
_I was afraid they might find me./I was afraid lest they find me.
_


----------



## Tetina

Σωστά Kristine και Kev (δεν χρειαζόσασταν βέβαια εμένα για να το μάθετε) αλλά να κάνω μια μικρή διευκρίνηση προς αποφυγήν παρεξηγήσεων: αυτό που λέει η kristine είναι το _μήπως _ως εισαγωγή δευτερεύουσων πλάγιων ερωτηματικών προτάσεων ενώ του Kev (όπως ήδη αναφέρει) είναι εισαγωγή δευτερεύουσων ενδοιαστικών προτάσεων. 
Σε αυτές τις περιπτώσεις το _μήπως _δεν θα μπορούσε να αντικατασταθεί απο το _ίσως_.
Ωστόσο- πιστεύω- ότι  θα μπορούσαμε να βρούμε περιπτώσεις  που  αμφότερα  χρησιμοποιούνται  με την ίδια σημασία αλλά ο γενικός κανόνας είναι ότι κατ' αρχήν διαφέρουν. Σωστά;  Αλλιώς με το εύπλαστον της ελληνικής γλώσσας ... και του σπανού τα γένια κάνουμε...!


----------



## GreedyGreen

Thanks for the extra info Kristine & Kev!



Tetina said:


> Σωστά Kristine και Kev (δεν χρειαζόσασταν βέβαια εμένα για να το μάθετε) αλλά να κάνω μια μικρή διευκρίνηση προς αποφυγήν παρεξηγήσεων: αυτό που λέει η kristine είναι το _μήπως _ως εισαγωγή δευτερεύουσων πλάγιων ερωτηματικών προτάσεων ενώ του Kev (όπως ήδη αναφέρει) είναι εισαγωγή δευτερεύουσων ενδοιαστικών προτάσεων.
> Σε αυτές τις περιπτώσεις το _μήπως _δεν θα μπορούσε να αντικατασταθεί απο το _ίσως_.
> Ωστόσο- πιστεύω- ότι θα μπορούσαμε να βρούμε περιπτώσεις που αμφότερα χρησιμοποιούνται με την ίδια σημασία αλλά ο γενικός κανόνας είναι ότι κατ' αρχήν διαφέρουν. Σωστά;  Αλλιώς με το εύπλαστον της ελληνικής γλώσσας ... και του σπανού τα γένια κάνουμε...!


 
Tetina - I pressume from the "Σωστά Kristine και Kev" at the start of your post that you are agreeing with their comments too, but I'm afraid the rest of your post is beyond my level of understanding at the moment (I only do Greek at night school!), so if the rest of the message was intended for me, could you give me a clue about it's meaning? Of course, if it was a message for Kev & Kristine, no worries. Thanks for the help everyone.


----------



## Tetina

> Tetina - I pressume from the "Σωστά Kristine και Kev" at the start of your post that you are agreeing with their comments too, but I'm afraid the rest of your post is beyond my level of understanding at the moment (I only do Greek at night school!), so if the rest of the message was intended for me, could you give me a clue about it's meaning? Of course, if it was a message for Kev & Kristine, no worries. Thanks for the help everyone.


 
It was meant for Kristine and Kev because I don't know if your level of Greek reaches this point (if not I didn't want to scare you off ) but I'm going to translate it for the extra knowledge never hurt anybody.

....the _μήπως_ Kev is referring to is a conjuction that introduces a subordinate clause indicating hesitation or fear (he also mentions it). The _μήπως_ Kristine is referring to is the same conjuction but now introduces a subordinate indirect interrogative clause.
This is a totally different case and cannot be replaced by _ίσως_. 
Of course -I believe - we can find cases that people use _μήπως_ and _ίσως_ meaning the same but in principle we must say that they differ. Otherwise greek language is so malleable that ... we can make a beardless man grow bares(this is greek saying.)


----------

