Softening speech with "ba"

The particle 吧 (ba) can be used to soften the feel of a sentence. This could be to make it more polite, gentler and less forceful, or to turn a command into a suggestion.

Structure

Statement + 吧

Examples

• 这 不 太 好 吧 。Zhè bù tài hǎo ba. This isn't that great.
• 算了 吧 。Suàn le ba. Just forget it.
• 应该 是 吧 。Yīnggāi shì ba. It should be. (referring to some context)
• 太少了 吧 。Tài shǎo le ba. Too little.
• 再 等 等 吧 。Zài děng děng ba. Wait a little longer.
• 太 晚 了 ，不要 走 了 吧 。Tài wǎn le, bù yào zǒu le ba. It's too late now, don't leave.
• 你们 早 点 来 吧 。 Nǐmen zǎo diǎn lái ba. Come a little earlier.
• 快 点 吧 ， 要 迟到 了。Kuài diǎn ba, yào chídào le. Hurry, we're going to be late.
• 太 贵 了 吧 ， 我 不 买 了。 Tài guì le ba, wǒ bù mǎi le. Too expensive! I'm not buying it.
• 那 个 地方 太 远 了 吧，我 不 想 去。 Nà ge dìfang tài yuǎn le ba，wǒ bù xiǎng qù. That place is too far away. I don't want to go.

Note that to make suggestions for a group of people including oneself, 咱们 (zánmen) is often used with 吧 (ba).

See also

• Suggestions with "ba"
• Conceding with "ba"
• Reviewing options with "ba"
• Verb reduplication

Sources and further reading

Books

• Chinese Grammar - Broken down into 100 items - Basic and Intermediate Levels (汉语语法百项讲练 - 初中级) →buy
• Short-term Spoken Chinese: Pre-Intermediate (汉语口语速成提高篇) (pp. 52-3)
• Short-term Spoken Chinese: Elementary (汉语口语速成基础篇) (p. 98) →buy
• Boya Chinese Elementary Starter 1 (博雅汉语初经起步篇) (p. 55) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 4 (新实用汉语课本4) (p. 246) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 2 (pp. 191- 2) →buy