Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): No estoy seguro; quizá la respuesta dependa de la situación. - I’m not sure; maybe the answer depends on the situation.

No estoy seguro – said by a man or by someone referring to a masculine subject (e.g. el profesor no está seguro).
No estoy segura – said by a woman or by someone referring to a feminine subject (e.g. la profesora no está segura).

The adjective seguro/segura must agree in gender (and number, if plural) with the subject: yo, tú, él/ella, etc.

Why is there a semicolon (;) instead of a comma between the two parts?

The semicolon in No estoy seguro; quizá la respuesta dependa de la situación separates two closely related but independent clauses:

No estoy seguro – one full sentence.
Quizá la respuesta dependa de la situación – another full sentence.

You could also use a period:

No estoy seguro. Quizá la respuesta dependa de la situación.

A comma is more informal and more common in everyday writing, but strictly speaking, two independent sentences joined only by a comma can be considered a comma splice in careful writing:

No estoy seguro, quizá la respuesta dependa de la situación. (very common in real life, but less “correct” in formal writing)

Why quizá and not quizás? Is there a difference?

Both quizá and quizás mean maybe / perhaps, and both are correct in Spain.

There is no difference in meaning.
Some speakers have a personal preference for one form.
Both are widely understood and used across the Spanish-speaking world.

You could rewrite the sentence as:

No estoy seguro; quizás la respuesta dependa de la situación.

It sounds completely natural.

Why is it dependa (subjunctive) instead of depende (indicative)?

Because quizá usually introduces something uncertain or hypothetical, and that often triggers the subjunctive:

depende – indicative: a fact or something seen as relatively certain.
dependa – subjunctive: something uncertain, possible, not presented as a fact.

So:

Quizá la respuesta dependa de la situación.
→ The speaker is clearly expressing uncertainty.

Using quizá + indicative is also possible (see next question), but quizá + subjunctive is very common when you want to stress doubt.

Can quizá be followed by the indicative (depende) instead? What would change?

Yes, you can say:

Quizá la respuesta depende de la situación.

Both are grammatically correct. The difference is nuance:

quizá + subjunctive (dependa)
→ Highlights uncertainty. The speaker is less sure.
quizá + indicative (depende)
→ Slightly more confident or neutral about the statement.

In everyday conversation, many speakers don’t consciously think about this; they use both, but the pattern above is a good guideline.

Why is it depender de and not depender en or something else?

The verb depender always uses the preposition de for “to depend on”:

depender de algo / alguien – to depend on something / someone

Examples:

Todo depende de ti. – Everything depends on you.
Depende del tiempo. – It depends on the weather.

Depender en is not used with this meaning in standard Spanish.

Why do we say la respuesta and la situación with the, even though English often omits “the”?

Spanish uses definite articles (el, la, los, las) more often than English.

In this sentence:

la respuesta – refers to the specific answer under discussion.
la situación – refers to the specific situation being considered.

In English you might say “maybe the answer depends on the situation” or even “maybe the answer depends on context”. Spanish tends to keep the article:

depende de la situación (very natural)
depende de situación (sounds wrong/unnatural)

Could I say No estoy seguro de la respuesta; quizá dependa de la situación? Is that different?

Yes, that’s correct Spanish, and the meaning changes slightly.

No estoy seguro; quizá la respuesta dependa de la situación.
→ “I’m not sure” (in general); maybe the answer depends on the situation.
No estoy seguro de la respuesta; quizá dependa de la situación.
→ “I’m not sure about the answer”; maybe it (the answer) depends on the situation.

In the second version, your doubt is explicitly about the answer, not about something else.

Why not No estoy seguro que…? Do I need de que?

With estar seguro, when you introduce a clause with que, you normally need de:

Estoy seguro de que…
No estoy seguro de que…

So if you continue the sentence, you say:

No estoy seguro de que la respuesta dependa de la situación.

No estoy seguro que… sounds incorrect or at least very unnatural in standard Spanish.

Why is there no yo? Could I say Yo no estoy seguro?

Spanish usually drops the subject pronoun because the verb ending already shows who the subject is:

(Yo) estoy – I am
(Tú) estás – you are
(Él/Ella) está – he/she is

So in normal, neutral speech:

No estoy seguro. – I’m not sure.

Adding yo usually gives emphasis or contrast:

Yo no estoy seguro, pero ella sí. – I’m not sure, but she is.
Yo no estoy seguro, pero tú pareces muy convencido. – I’m not sure, but you seem very convinced.

Both forms are grammatically correct.

Can I change the word order to Quizá dependa la respuesta de la situación?

Yes, that word order is possible:

Quizá dependa la respuesta de la situación.

However:

The original Quizá la respuesta dependa de la situación sounds more neutral and is more common.
Quizá dependa la respuesta… sounds a bit more formal or literary, or it may put a bit more focus on depende.

Spanish allows some flexibility in word order, especially in writing or for stylistic effect.

Is quizá formal? What other words could I use in Spain?

Quizá (and quizás) is neutral and works in both formal and informal contexts.

Common alternatives in Spain:

Tal vez la respuesta dependa de la situación. – also neutral, slightly more formal-sounding to some ears.
A lo mejor la respuesta depende de la situación. – very common and colloquial; in Spain it’s usually followed by the indicative (depende, not dependa).

For example, in a casual conversation in Spain you might often hear:

A lo mejor la respuesta depende de la situación.