Is there any difference between "Quizás" and "Tal vez"?

Question

I don't understand the difference between "Quizás" and "Tal vez". I sense they are not used in the same way. I've got a friend from Chile and when we talk he always uses "Quizás" but sometimes I feel he's not saying "Perhaps", there is another idea. Please, would you guys help me by explaining what "Quizás" and "Tal vez" means and how to use it?

Good question mate , thanks . - ray76, Dec 10, 2013

Answer 1

Hi there!

Take a look at these screenshots from R.A.E.

This means that quizás = quizá.

This is the definition of quizá: (my translation, might contain mistakes) Denotes the possibility of happening or being true (what is expressed). It may rain tomorrow. Maybe it's true what you say. Maybe they tried to fool me.

This is the definition of tal vez. It says that is equivalent to quizá.

They are interchangeable, nobody can tell you otherwise. My suggestion: try not to overthink things. Use quizás an tal vez wherever it feels right to you.

Un saludo.

great answer. - rogspax, Dec 10, 2013

Thank you R C, I have fretted over this also , now i understand it more . - ray76, Dec 10, 2013

Good illustration -- and even better advice! - anómalo, Jul 14, 2017

Answer 2

A sidebar, I recently learned (and was surprised by it, and so spent some time clarifying it to be sure I wasn´t misunderstanding) that some speakers will use ¨de repente¨, which I knew only as ¨suddenly¨ or ¨all of the sudden¨ to also mean quizá(s) or tal vez. This was a big surprise to me, and I am unlikely to incorporate it into my speech, but it´s worth recognizing if you ever find yourself, several times in a row, why someone is ever suddenly using the word ¨suddenly¨ in strange places in their Spanish sentences.

For context, speaker was a very well educated and spoken Peruana.

May be regional. I have no idea.

It's true sometimes we could use "de repente" instead of "quizás " etc. Good point but not in a composition, document etc. It's very collowquial and I wonder if not regional. - polenta1, Jul 14, 2017

Answer 3

If this answer is incorrect, hopefully someone will point that out.

I have noticed that "Quizás" is more commonly used than "Tal vez". In English the words "maybe" and "perhaps" are interchangeable. The only difference I can think of is that "maybe" is a little less formal than "perhaps", and used much more in everyday speech, at least in the United States. So I have suspected that this slight difference may also apply to "Quisás" and "Tal vez".

I have always preferred to use "Tal vez", but have wondered if "Quizás" would be a better choice for informal speech.

In English I use ," maybe " if you ask me if I am going to do something , but I use " perhaps " if you ask is something correct or will a certain event happen. But as you say it is interchangeable. - ray76, Dec 10, 2013

Thanks for that perspective, it makes sense. - dennywells, Dec 10, 2013

Answer 4

If we use "de repente in the Southern Cone and they also use it in Peru (which is new for me) , it seems it's quite widespread.

Examples: _ ¿Vas a ver a tu novio mañana? Are you going to see your boyfriend tomorrow?

_ De repente. Maybe.

De repente en diciembre hago un viaje.
I might take a trip in December.
Maybe I'm going to take trip in December.

I had never thought of something that we use so often. Rembember, it's not formal at all. It's colloquial.

Answer 5

The only real difference is one is an adverb and the other is an adverbial phrase. choose one to use, and remember the other for when someone says it to you

Answer 6

They have the same meaning. You could use "quizás" ""quizá" , "tal vez", "puede ser", "es posible", "es probable", "etc. In our area we use "capaz· or " es capaz" but it's regional I guess.

Quizás mañana llueva.
Quizá mañana llueva.
Tal vez mañana llueva.
Puede ser que mañana llueva.
Es posible que mañana llueva.
Es probable que mañana llueva.
Probablemente mañana llueva.

Capaz que mañana llueve. (it sounds indicative to me.Any explanation?) Es capaz que mañana llueve.

The two last ones with capaz may sound weird in other regions maybe especially in Spanin.

I personally feel that "quizá", " quizás" and "tal vez " are slightly more refined but nothing else.

Right. Same difference. Absolutely synonyms. - Gekkosan, Jul 14, 2017

Answer 7

I would use both indistinctly.

I agree with anomalo:

The only real difference is one is an adverb and the other is an adverbial phrase.

I would like to add that quizá comes from quién sabe, who knows.

I was as surprised as rogspax the first time I heard de repente with the meaning of quizá, tal vez when I first met some Argentinians and Chileans.