может и глагол ИЛИ может быть и глагол

[upthera44.livejournal.com]

 I've never been able to figure out how the following two constructions are used. When you want to say something like "We might (do something)" or "Maybe we'll (do something)" -- sometimes people use может and something может быть

For example: 

Может быть поженимся.

Может поженимся.

When are может and может быть used and what's the difference?

Comments

[pro100-petrov.livejournal.com]

No difference. Может поженимся is a short variant of может быть поженимся.

[belomor.livejournal.com]

Может поженимся is less formal, "быть" is just dropped out here, but doesnt affect the meaning

[upthera44.livejournal.com]

Is it poor style or uncultured to say "Может поженимся" without быть? Also, can this be written or is it only in conversational speech?

[pro100-petrov.livejournal.com]

Neither poor style, nor uncultured

[pro100-petrov.livejournal.com]

Yes, it can be written, of couse

[upthera44.livejournal.com]

Great, thanks!

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

If it's written, it must be written with a comma after "может" ;-)

[pro100-petrov.livejournal.com]

Yes, sure.

[belomor.livejournal.com]

if you are intimate enough to propose marriage, it's fine to say that way :))

... well, after thinking a while - it depends on bride/fiancee personality. I would say like that no doubts, but maybe some people could be snobby enough to reckon it "uncultured", dunno :) Normally, not.

and yes, it can be written.

[acuzena.livejournal.com]

No difference. You can use both in written and oral speech.

[surkova.livejournal.com]

one more option: Может, и поженимся. А может, и не поженимся! :)

[whitest-owl.livejournal.com]

weeell.... several people already said that there is no difference...
But I think they are not completely correct.
For me, the use of "быть" increases the improbability of the action. Something like: "most likely we might do something" vs "there is a chance we might do something".
I hope that helps.

[sutasu.livejournal.com]

Может быть, поженимся (don't forget a comma) may express an opinion about the future -> It may happen that we get married.

Может, поженимся - has a more strong flavor of making a suggestion -> Let's get married.

But of course, it all depends on the context heavily.

[zvs.livejournal.com]

+1