Kilo Lingo

(huò xǔ) - perhaps, maybe, possibly in Mandarin

huò

Traditional: 或許

Line drawing of 或许
Coloured illustration of 或许
HSK 5
#481 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

perhaps, maybe, possibly

Word origin

或许 means 'perhaps, maybe': 或 (huò, 'perhaps, or') plus 许 (xǔ, 'to allow, perhaps'). 许 carries 讠(the speech radical) with 午 (wǔ) as phonetic. The two near-synonyms reinforce the sense of possibility.

Origin
compound
Root
或 (huò, perhaps) + 许 (xǔ, perhaps/to allow)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 或

Stroke order for 许

Examples

He perhaps knows the answer.

Perhaps tomorrow will be a little better.

This is possibly a misunderstanding.

Perhaps tomorrow will be better.

He may already know.

或许 (huò xǔ) - perhaps, maybe, possibly.

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This word is part of lesson 10.