How to say "maybe, perhaps" in Arabic
Shifted meaningMeaningmaybe, perhaps
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
rubbamāרבמא
ربما
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
ulaiأُولَاي
How the two words are related
Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.
Arabic root
ر-ب-بHebrew root
ר-ב-בBuilt on the old particle رُبَّ, 'many a..., often' — sharing its root ر-ب-ب with رَبّ 'lord, master' (literally 'the great one'), the very root behind Hebrew רַב, 'much, many, great' (and, later, 'rabbi'). 'Often, it happens that...' wore down into today's plain 'maybe' — a real root match with a shifted job.
Related Hebrew word:רַבravرَاڤ
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
Cairo's maybe is yimkin.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
Darija's maybe is yemken — or the very Moroccan wāqīla, probably.
In a phrase
maybe tomorrow