4.11: Lesson 4 Grammar - Suggestions with 吧 (ba)

CHN102 Elementary Mandarin II Textbook · LibreTexts

0%

Contents

    Text

    Size
    100%
    Theme
    Typeface
    Line length
    Spacing

    From LibreTexts, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, as the source states it; its equations are written in TeX, which the PDF shows typeset. This page at LibreTexts.

    The particle 吧 (ba) has a number of different uses. Here we'll talk about the simplest way to use 吧 (ba): making suggestions.

    Structure

    Command + 吧

    Note that in Chinese, whenever you have a command with the subject "we," you're basically just saying, "let's (do something)." 吧 (ba) just makes the suggestion sound more tentative and more polite.

    Examples

    • 我们走吧。
      Wǒmen zǒu ba.
      Let's go.
    • 你说吧。
      Nǐ shuō ba.
      You say it.
    • 快点吃吧。
      Kuài diǎn chī ba.
      Hurry up and eat.
    • 给我两个吧。
      Gěi wǒ liǎng gè ba.
      Give me two.
    • 喝水吧。
      Hē shuǐ ba.
      Have some water.
    • 我们去香港吧。
      Wǒmen qù Xiānggǎng ba.
      Let's go to Hong Kong.
    • 我们六点去吧？
      Wǒmen liù diǎn qù ba?
      We're going at 6 o'clock (right)?
    • 休息一下吧。
      Xiūxi yīxià ba.
      Take a break.
    • 我们结婚吧。
      Wǒmen jiéhūn ba.
      Let's get married.
    • 老板，便宜一点吧。
      Lǎobǎn, piányi yīdiǎn ba.
      Boss, can you make it cheaper?
      [Note: Here, “boss” refers to a shopkeeper.]

    [adapted from AllSet Learning Chinese Grammar Wiki, Creative Commons License BY-NC-SA 3.0]

    * * *

    Any Questions?

    If you have any questions about this grammar point, please ask in the class forums!

    This page titled 4.11: Lesson 4 Grammar - Suggestions with 吧 (ba) was last modified on Thu, 05 May 2022 14:19:33 GMT and is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Carl Polley (裴凯).