Well, everyone may not agree with Tolstoy's urging to use the word "perhaps" instead of a "yes" or "no"-especially in matters of love. In fact, Doris Day in her 1964 hit sang a famous song demanding that her lover say yes or no and not perhaps. Listen to how she sings it in this song titled Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps.

So when is it good to use perhaps?

Perhaps is an adverb like maybe but it sounds a bit more formal. But it does more than add a touch of indecision. Just read the greatest writers of English, and you will see that many writers actually strengthen their ideas with this word of uncertainty. Indeed, the strongest speakers and writers often pepper their ideas with this word.

Why do they put this touch of uncertainty when they want to be strong? Simply, using a word like perhaps adds a touch of humility, making the person's idea sound more reflective and then a bit more acceptable. Let's take a quick look at some of these famous writers:

• Here is Henry David Thoreau, an American essayist and philosopher:

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."

• And now take a look at how the British philosopher Bertrand Russel uses this word:

"Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness."

• Now look at what George Orwell, a British writer, writes:

"Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood."

• Here is one more from Orwell with perhaps:

"I wish to say what I think and feel today, with the proviso that tomorrow perhaps I shall contradict it all."

So saying you are uncertain may get others to listen to you more. Try it out in your next writing.

Priscilla Karant specializes in teaching writing to the advanced international professional, academic English to graduate and undergraduate students, and speaking skills to the international professional.