Students often ask a simple question:

“How do you say maybe in Spanish?”

At first the answer seems obvious. Then you quickly realize something: Spanish does not really have just one way to say it.

Instead, the language spreads that meaning across several expressions: 1) tal vez, 2) quizá(s), 3) posiblemente, 4) puede (ser) que, 5) a lo mejor, 6) igual (y), 7) chance y, 8) capaz (que), and 9) de repente / de pronto.

All of them express possibility. But they differ in grammar, tone, and regional usage.

So the real answer to the question is:

Which kind of maybe?

The classics

Three of the most neutral options are tal vez, quizá(s), and posiblemente.

All three often appear with the subjunctive, but the indicative is also possible when the situation feels more plausible:

Expression	Subjunctive example	Indicative example
tal vez	Tal vez llegue tarde	Tal vez llega tarde
quizá(s)	Quizá(s) venga mañana	Quizá(s) viene mañana
posiblemente	Posiblemente regrese mañana	Posiblemente regresa mañana

The difference is subtle. The grammar reflects not just uncertainty, but how real the speaker imagines the possibility to be.

Other common “maybes”

Several other expressions also function as maybe, though their usage often depends on region or level of formality. Unlike the previous group, these normally appear with the indicative.

Expression	Example	Where / when used
a lo mejor	A lo mejor llega tarde	very common in everyday conversation
igual / igual y	Igual (y) voy mañana	informal speech in Spain and Mexico
chance y	Chance y sí voy	colloquial Mexican Spanish
capaz / capaz que	Capaz que viene mañana	common in Argentina and Uruguay
de repente / de pronto	De repente viene mañana	speculative meaning in some varieties

All of them occupy the same semantic territory: expressing possibility.

Why the grammar changes

At this point a pattern begins to appear.

Expressions like tal vez, quizá(s), and posiblemente function as modal adverbs. They modify the whole statement and signal that the speaker is not fully committing to its truth. Because of that, Spanish allows some flexibility in the verb mood. The speaker can present the event as more hypothetical (tal vez llegue) or as relatively plausible (tal vez llega).

Other expressions—like a lo mejor, igual, capaz, or chance y—behave more like phrases that comment on the situation. They introduce a possible scenario but do not normally affect the grammatical mood of the clause itself, which is why the verb usually remains in the indicative.

Finally, possibility can also appear inside a verbal construction: puede ser / puede ser que.

When used alone, puede ser simply expresses uncertainty:

—¿Vendrá mañana?
—Puede ser.

When it introduces a clause, the structure puede (ser) que naturally leads to the subjunctive:

Puede (ser) que llueva mañana.

What English does differently

English also has several ways to express possibility—maybe, perhaps, possibly, and modal verbs like may and might. But unlike Spanish, modern English no longer has a robust subjunctive system that actively interacts with these expressions.

Instead, English usually signals uncertainty through modal verbs such as may or might. Spanish, by contrast, often encodes that same nuance in the verb mood itself, alternating between the indicative and the subjunctive.

So Spanish does not just express possibility. It expresses how strongly the speaker commits to what they are saying.