What's the difference between ‘perhaps’ and ‘maybe’?

I would like to know how to use them. Are they alike, or just two different words that can be used in the same way?

Solution 1:

There is, in fact, no commonly visible (as visible as words can be!) difference. Look at these circular definitions:

Maybe: Perhaps; Possibly.

Perhaps: Used to express uncertainty or possibility.

Possibly: Perhaps.

As you can see, they can all be used in the same way. However, there's a bit of a semantic and informal difference. Maybe is usually used informally, and it is derived from "it may be". It is more often used as a definite (as definite as maybe can be!) answer to a question. Example: "Can I do this?" "Maybe."

Perhaps is more formal, and is most often used to express uncertainty about an outcome or undertaking, and is more often used in response to a possibility (spoken by a second or third person) rather than a request. "Might this work?" "Perhaps."

Possibly is usually used in tandem with a possibility you yourself have said, rather than a possibility someone else has mentioned. Example: "My test could possibly fail."

TL;DR: They mean basically the same thing! You can use them interchangeably, but some work better than others in different situations.

Solution 2:

Since the "hap" in "perhaps" means something like "chance, luck, fate," as does the "hap" in "happen" and the "hap" in "happy," I guess I think of "perhaps" as having to do with what might "happen" and "maybe" as having to do with what "may be" so, i.e., already is so.

Example:

"Maybe the suitcase is in the car." (It may be the case that the suitcase is in the car.)

"Perhaps the picnic will be rained out." (Through fate -- per haps -- the picnic will be rained out.)

Whether there's historic usage in support of that distinction, I don't know.

Again:

Perhaps = per haps = through fate

Maybe = may be = it may be