Suggestions with "ba"
Revision as of 09:23, 21 November 2011 by Jonathan.pope (talk | contribs)
The particle 吧 (ba) can be used to make suggestions or soften the tone of commands. The structure is:
Command + 吧
Note that when you have a command with the subject "we," you're basically just saying, "let's (do something)." 吧 makes the suggestion sound more tentative and more polite. Some examples:
- 咱们 走 吧。
- 快点 吃 吧。
- 给 我 两 个 吧。
See also
- Softening speech with "ba"
- Softening the Tone of Questions with "ne" (advanced article)
Sources and further reading
- Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar (pp. 307 - 311)
