Yes, No, or Maybe
For the first three groups of questions, the expected answer may be sí (yes), no (no), or any of the words we might translate as “maybe”: quizá (or quizás), tal vez, and a lo mejor. Another way of saying “maybe” is with a verb phrase — puede que or puede ser que. Note that the clause the follows will be in the subjunctive mood.
Let's look at some examples of questions and answers. Let's say the question is:
¿Es Londres la capital de Inglaterra?
Is London the capital of England?
Here are some appropriate responses:
Sí, Londres es la capital de Inglaterra.
Yes, London is the capital of England.
No, Londres no es la capital de Inglaterra. Es la capital del Reino Unido.
No, London isn't the capital of England. It's the capital of the United Kingdom.
FACT
Many of the question words also have non-question meanings. For example, que means “that” and para que means “so that.” In Spanish writing, the question words are distinguished with the use of an accent mark. For example, qué means “what?” and que is “that.”
Tal vez Londres es la capital de Inglaterra, no estoy seguro.
Maybe London is the capital of England, I'm not sure.
No sé. Quizás París es la capital de Inglaterra.
I don't know. Maybe Paris is the capital of England.
Puede ser que Londres sea la capital de Inglaterra.
Maybe (it's possible) that London is the capital of England.
