شاید and ممکن است | Farsi Grammar

شاید “maybe/perhaps” and ممکن است “it is possible” both weaken a claim: the speaker presents it as a possibility rather than a fact. For an open present or future event, both commonly license a finite present subjunctive: شاید بیاید, ممکن است دیر برسیم. Unlike English may, neither expression is a conjugated auxiliary carrying the subject; the embedded Persian verb still marks person and number.

شاید: a mobile possibility adverb

شاید is invariant and needs no copula. It often opens the clause, but it can stand after a topic or near the constituent whose uncertainty matters. The neutral pattern is:

Position	Persian pattern	Discourse effect
Clause-initial	شاید سارا فردا بیاید	the whole proposition is possible
After a topic	سارا شاید فردا بیاید	keeps Sara as the established topic
With هم	شاید هم حق با تو باشد	concedes “perhaps, after all”

شاید آخر هفته به شمال برویم.

shâyad âkhar-e hafte be shomâl beravim.

Maybe we'll go north for the weekend. (neutral conversation; open future possibility)

نیلوفر شاید بعد از کلاس به ما ملحق شود.

nilufar shâyad ba'd az kelâs be mâ molhaq shavad.

Niloufar may join us after class. (neutral standard; topic before شاید)

شاید هم حق با تو باشد و من تاریخ را اشتباه کرده باشم.

shâyad ham haqq bâ to bâshad va man târikh râ eshtebâh karde bâsham.

Perhaps you're right after all and I may have got the date wrong. (neutral reflective speech)

The subjunctive supplies the actual predicate and subject agreement. شاید من بیایم and شاید او بیاید differ on the embedded verb, not on شاید.

💡

Treat شاید as a possibility operator over a clause, not as Persian “may.” You still need a complete verb such as بیایم، بیایی، بیاید.

ممکن است and optional که

ممکن است is an impersonal predicate, literally “it is possible.” It can take a clause directly or introduce it with که. The complementizer makes the boundary especially clear when the embedded clause has an overt subject or is long.

ممکن است فردا اداره بسته باشد.

momken ast fardâ edâre baste bâshad.

The office may be closed tomorrow. (neutral standard; که omitted)

ممکن است که قیمت بلیت‌ها هفته‌ی بعد تغییر کند.

momken ast ke qeymat-e belit-hâ hafte-ye ba'd taghyir konad.

It is possible that ticket prices will change next week. (formal-neutral; explicit که)

ممکن است تا عصر جواب دقیقی نداشته باشم.

momken ast tâ asr javâb-e daqiq-i na-dâshte bâsham.

I may not have an exact answer until this evening. (neutral standard; first-person complement)

There is no subject-control requirement here. The clause after ممکن است can have any subject: the speaker, the listener, a named person, or an inanimate noun. English learners should not insert dummy it as a Persian pronoun; ممکن است is already an impersonal frame.

Why the subjunctive, and where the indicative appears

The subjunctive is the dependable A2 choice when an event is merely possible, especially with future reference: شاید باران ببارد. It presents the event inside the speaker's uncertainty rather than asserting it independently. Review the form itself on Present Subjunctive Formation.

Actual Persian is not governed by a rule that “شاید always takes the subjunctive.” An indicative can occur when speakers speculate about an ongoing situation, echo a proposition already under discussion, or speak colloquially: شاید نمی‌داند “perhaps he doesn't know.” It treats the proposition more like a candidate explanation than a projected event. At A2, use the subjunctive for open future possibilities and learn frequent indicative examples as a real usage choice, not as carelessness.

شاید اینترنت این طبقه خوب کار نمی‌کند.

shâyad internet-e in tabaqe khub kâr nemi-konad.

Maybe the internet doesn't work well on this floor. (neutral conversation; conjecture about an existing situation)

شاید فردا اینترنت را تعمیر کنند.

shâyad fardâ internet râ ta'mir konand.

Maybe they'll repair the internet tomorrow. (neutral standard; open future event, subjunctive)

This is a tendency tied to how the situation is construed, not a simple difference in chronological tense.

A practical certainty scale

شاید is the ordinary conversational “maybe.” ممکن است can sound more analytical, careful, or formal, although it is also normal in conversation. به احتمال زیاد “most likely” signals a stronger expectation, while حتماً in its inferential use is stronger still. These are not numerical probabilities; tone and evidence matter.

به احتمال زیاد جلسه تا ساعت شش تمام می‌شود.

be ehtemâl-e ziyâd jalase tâ sâ'at-e shesh tamâm mi-shavad.

The meeting will most likely finish by six. (neutral standard; stronger expectation than شاید)

💡

Choose between شاید and ممکن است mainly by style, not by imagining a fixed percentage. ممکن است که suits an explicitly framed proposition; شاید is lighter and especially common in spontaneous speech.

Negation and scope

Putting negation in the embedded subjunctive means that a negative event is possible: شاید نیاید “perhaps she will not come.” Negating the possibility predicate produces a much stronger claim: ممکن نیست بیاید “it is impossible for her to come.”

شاید پیک امروز به این محله نرسد.

shâyad peyk emruz be in mahalle na-rasad.

The courier may not reach this neighborhood today. (neutral possibility of non-arrival)

بدون گذرنامه ممکن نیست از مرز عبور کنید.

bedun-e gozarnâme momken nist az marz obur konid.

It is impossible to cross the border without a passport. (formal-neutral impossibility)

Compare this with negative indicative after شاید: شاید خبر ندارد means “perhaps he is unaware,” a conjecture about his current state. Negative subjunctive شاید خبر نداشته باشد packages the same state more explicitly as a possibility. Both exist; the second is the safer formal-neutral pattern.

Register and everyday pronunciation

Standard ممکن است appears in careful speech and writing. Tehran speech (informal, regional: Tehran) normally contracts it to ممکنه and reduces the embedded subjunctive: ممکنه دیر برسه. شاید itself does not need such a contraction.

ممکنه امشب دیر برسم؛ منتظرم نمون.

momkene emshab dir beresam; montazer-am namun.

I might get there late tonight; don't wait for me. (informal, regional: Tehran)

Common Mistakes

1. Adding a copula to شاید

❌ من شاید هستم دیر بیایم.

Incorrect — شاید is an invariant adverb and does not take هستم after it.

✅ شاید من کمی دیرتر به شام برسم.

shâyad man kami dir-tar be shâm beresam.

I may arrive a little late for dinner.

2. Adding a dummy pronoun to ممکن است

❌ آن ممکن است که فردا برف ببارد.

as impersonal English ‘it is possible’

Incorrect — Persian does not need a dummy آن before impersonal ممکن است.

✅ ممکن است فردا در ارتفاعات برف ببارد.

momken ast fardâ dar ertefâ'ât barf bebârad.

It may snow in the highlands tomorrow.

3. Using an infinitive after a possibility expression

❌ شاید فردا آمدن.

Incorrect — the possible event needs a finite verb with person and number.

✅ شاید فردا چند نفر مهمان بیایند.

shâyad fardâ chand nafar mehmân biyâyand.

A few guests may come tomorrow.

4. Confusing possible non-occurrence with impossibility

❌ ممکن نیست بیاید.

as ‘she may not come’

Incorrect for that meaning — this grammatical sentence says that her coming is impossible.

✅ ممکن است امشب به مهمانی نیاید.

momken ast emshab be mehmâni niyâyad.

She may not come to the party tonight.

Key Takeaways

شاید is an invariant adverb; ممکن است is an impersonal possibility predicate.
Open present or future possibilities normally take a finite subjunctive.
که after ممکن است is optional and useful with a long or explicitly framed clause.
Indicative clauses after شاید are real when speakers conjecture about an existing situation.
Embedded negation means “possibly not”; ممکن نیست means “impossible.”

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