GrammarJLPT N5
→ may
Casual "maybe / might"
JLPT N5ParticleCasual spoken
かも is a casual, colloquial abbreviation of かもしれない (which itself means "may" or "might"). By dropping しれない, speakers produce a softer, lighter expression of uncertainty that is extremely common in everyday spoken Japanese. Because it is an abbreviation, かも carries the same core meaning of possibility as かもしれない but sounds more relaxed and is typically used among friends, family, or in informal settings. It attaches directly to the plain form of verbs, adjectives, and nouns (with or without だ for nouns and な-adjectives). Compared to だろう or でしょう, which express the speaker's guess or conjecture, かも leans more toward acknowledging a possibility without committing to a prediction. Learners should be aware that かも is not appropriate in formal writing or polite speech—in those contexts, the full form かもしれません or かもしれない should be used instead.
Examples
Example #1
明日、雨が降るかも。あした、 あめ が ふる かも。
Here かも is attached to the plain form of the verb 降る to express the possibility that it will rain. The sentence sounds natural and casual, as if the speaker is thinking aloud or mentioning the possibility to a friend. In a more polite setting, one would say 降るかもしれません instead.It might rain tomorrow.
Structures
- Verb (plain form)
- Verb (plain form) + かも
- い-Adjective
- い-Adjective + かも
- な-Adjective
- な-Adjective (+ だ) + かも
- Noun
- Noun (+ だ) + かも
Common mistakes
The most frequent mistake learners make is using かも in formal or polite situations where かもしれません or at least かもしれない would be appropriate; remember that かも alone is strictly casual. Another common error is adding です after かも (e.g., 「難しいかもです」), which, while heard occasionally in very informal speech, is considered grammatically awkward and should generally be avoided—use かもしれません for politeness instead. Some learners also confuse かも with だろう; while both express uncertainty, だろう leans toward the speaker's personal conjecture or prediction, whereas かも simply acknowledges a possibility without strong commitment. Finally, with nouns and な-adjectives, learners sometimes incorrectly insert な before かも (e.g., 「静かなかも」); the correct casual pattern is typically 静かかも or 静かだかも, not with な.
Related
かもしれないかもしれませんだろうでしょうたぶんらしい