Learn Arabic › A1 › رُبَّما
رُبَّما
perhaps /ˈrub.ba.maː/
adverbA1#76 most common
Also: maybe, possibly, may (modal)
Example sentences
رُبَّما غَدًا.
Maybe tomorrow.
رُبَّما يَأْتي أَحْمَد اليَوْم.
Maybe Ahmed will come today.
رُبَّما نَذْهَبُ إلى البَحْرِ في العُطْلَةِ القادِمَة.
Perhaps we'll go to the sea on the next holiday.
رُبَّما كانَ على حَقٍّ، لكنَّني لَستُ مُتَأَكِّدًا بَعْد.
He may have been right, but I'm not sure yet.
رُبَّما لو أنَّكَ استَمَعتَ إليَّ مُنذُ البِدايَة، لَما وَصَلْنا إلى هذا المَأزِق.
Perhaps if you had listened to me from the start, we wouldn't have reached this impasse.
رُبَّما لا يَكمُنُ الخَطَأُ في القَرارِ نَفسِهِ، بل في تَوقيتِهِ غَيرِ المُلائِمِ تَمامًا.
Perhaps the error lies not in the decision itself, but in its utterly inopportune timing.
Word family
رُبَّmany a; perhaps
لَرُبَّماperhaps indeed, quite possibly
لَعَلَّperhaps, maybe (hopefully)
قَدْmay, perhaps (modal with the present)مُمْكِنmaybe, possibly (colloquial)Etymology
رُبَّما is a compound of the ancient particle رُبَّ (rubba), which in Classical Arabic meant 'many a' or 'how often,' plus the particle ما (mā). Here ما is the so-called 'restraining mā' (مَا الكَافَّة): it neutralizes رُبَّ's requirement for a following genitive noun, allowing the compound to precede verbs. Over time the sense drifted from quantitative 'many a time' to the modal 'perhaps.' It is a purely Semitic formation with no Indo-European root.
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