Quiza/tal vez or a lo mejor

Question

Hi, In the last sentence, could you replace tal vez etc with a lo mejor, and if so, would this then take the indicative or still the subjunctive?Many thanksDee

Answer

Hola Dee,

Thanks for raising this I found it interesting. In the normal course of events “a lo mejor” is always followed by the indicative, even though it is often used instead of tal vez or quizás. In the context of the exercise that you mention, I think you would have to use the indicative if you substituted “a lo mejor.”

That said, I believe it is possible to follow “a lo mejor” with the subjunctive where there is a considerable degree of doubt or probability. For example, [I found this in the WordReference “A lo mejor” entry], where you are saying something like “Under different circumstances, maybe he would have told the truth …. En otras circunstancias a lo mejor hubiera dicho la verdad.” It’s like it is really hard to say whether he would have told the truth or not - thus the subjunctive. WordReference mention that this use of the subjunctive is colloquial.

I cant find a lesson on this use in KWIZIQ but I’m sure Inma can comment. Saludos. John

Answer

Hola Dee 
As John said, "a lo mejor" is used with the indicative. Here is our lesson. 
The meaning is the same as quizá and tal vez but a bit more colloquial than these two. 
There's more flexibility in terms of using the indicative or the subjunctive with quizá and tal vez, but it would be really odd to hear the subjunctive with a lo mejor. The example that John offers using the pluperfect subjunctive doesn't sound bad but I believe it is because there is a reinforcement from "en otras circunstancias..." which makes this possibility less "possible" and the subjunctive doesn't sound bad in that case. It could also sound OK because, occasionally we alternate the pluperfect subjunctive and the perfect conditional, therefore we can also say: 
En otras circunstancias a lo mejor habría dicho la verdad. 
Saludos a los dos
Inma