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+--- Thread: 確かに。。。かもしれません (/thread-3935.html)
確かに。。。かもしれません - IceCream - 2009-09-05
why is this used? isn't it a bit of a contradiction? does it make it more polite?
確かに。。。かもしれません - magamo - 2009-09-05
It's similar to "may..., but" as in "I may be stupid, but I know what love is." The "may" in this sentence doesn't mean "It is possible that..." or "I am not certain, but there is a possibility that..." It's more like "I know I'm stupid, but..." The かもしれない part is pretty much the same as this "may," and that's why your example sentences have が and でも, which are often translated as "but" or "however."
"Certainly XXX, but..." also has a contrasting usage similar to the may+but in English. In Japanese, you can combine the may+but combo and the certainly+but structure. I think the 確かに version has a stronger sense that you are accepting the truth of the first clause than the 確かに-less version, and probably that's why 確かに is often added when the second clause sharply contradicts the listener's opinion.
IceCream Wrote:Does it make it more polite?I don't know if it's called polite, but overusing 確かに...かもしれないが can make you sound like a pseudo-intellectual, especially when you throw in big words.