Expressing concern with "kongpa"
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恐怕 (kǒngpà) can be used to express "I'm afraid that," or "I'm concerned that," or even "I'm worried that," followed by some sort of reason. It doesn't need to be something you're literally afraid of; it may be that you're just trying to soften the blow of some bad news, as in, "I'm afraid that I'm too busy washing my hair tomorrow night to come over and see the 2000 pictures of your trip to ComicCon."
Contents
Structure
"恐怕" comes at the beginning of the sentence. The meaning is similar to "perhaps" or "probably".
(Reason,) 恐怕 + Fact / Conclusion
Examples
- 明天 我 很 忙，恐怕 没 有 时间。 I'm busy tomorrow, I'm afraid I don't have time.
- 已经 很 晚 了，恐怕 他 不 会 来 了。 It's already very late. I'm afraid he's not coming.
- 工作 太 多 了，恐怕 今天 做 不 完。 There's too much work. I'm afraid I can't finish it all today.
- 饭 太 多 了，恐怕 我 吃 不 完。 There's too much food. I'm afraid I can't eat it all.
- 这样 做 恐怕 不行。 I'm afraid it doesn't work this way.
- 恐怕 他 不 会 听 你 的 话。 I'm afraid he won't listen to you.
我 with 恐怕
A common mistake many people make when learning "恐怕“ is putting a pronoun, such as "我," before ”恐怕.“ It's a reasonable assumption, as "恐怕“ translates to, "I'm afraid" but the pronoun is more or less implied and grammatically incorrect when preceded by 我:
- 我恐怕今天没有时间做作业。Never put 我 before 恐怕!
- 恐怕我今天没有时间做作业。Always use 恐怕 before 我.I'm afraid today I don't have time to do homework.
See also
- "Would like to" with xiang
- Wanting to do something with yao
- Auxiliary verb
- Auxiliary verb "hui" for "will"
Sources and further reading
Videos
- Yoyo Chinese: "Have to and Don't have to"
