Difference between revisions of "Expressing "had better" with "haishi""

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* 我们 <em>还是</em> 明天 去 吧。<span class="pinyin">Wǒmen <em>háishì</em> míngtiān qù ba.</span><span class="trans">You'd better talk with me now.</span>
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* 我们 <em>还是</em> 明天 去 吧。<span class="pinyin">Wǒmen <em>háishì</em> míngtiān qù ba.</span><span class="trans">We'd better go tomorrow.</span>
 
* <em>还是</em> 让 她 走 吧。<span class="pinyin"><em>Háishì</em> ràng tā zǒu ba.</span><span class="trans">We'd better let her go.</span>
 
* <em>还是</em> 让 她 走 吧。<span class="pinyin"><em>Háishì</em> ràng tā zǒu ba.</span><span class="trans">We'd better let her go.</span>
 
* 你 <em>还是</em> 帮帮 他 吧。<span class="pinyin">Nǐ <em> háishì</em> bāngbang tā ba.</span><span class="trans">You'd better help him with this.</span>
 
* 你 <em>还是</em> 帮帮 他 吧。<span class="pinyin">Nǐ <em> háishì</em> bāngbang tā ba.</span><span class="trans">You'd better help him with this.</span>

Revision as of 05:12, 12 July 2017

One of the ways to use 还是 (háishì) is to have it mean "you had better," similar to how in English we may say "I think you had better start on your homework."

Structure

还是 as an adverb can express "had better" or "it would be better to." The idea is that the speaker has given the matter some thought, and after considering it, has finally come to a decision. The announcement of this decision will frequently include 还是, and it usually comes before a verb or a subject.

Subj. + 还是 + [Verb Phrase] + 吧

吧 is often placed after this structure, as it's a suggestion.

Examples

  • 我们 还是 明天 去 吧。Wǒmen háishì míngtiān qù ba.We'd better go tomorrow.
  • 还是 让 她 走 吧。Háishì ràng tā zǒu ba.We'd better let her go.
  • 还是 帮帮 他 吧。 háishì bāngbang tā ba.You'd better help him with this.
  • 还是 别 问 了 吧。Háishì bié wèn le ba.We'd better not ask.
  • 太 贵 了,还是 别 买 了 吧。Tài guì le, háishì bié mǎi le ba.It's too expensive. You'd better not buy it.
  • 还是 现在 就 跟 我 说 吧。háishì xiànzài jiù gēn wǒ shuō ba.You'd better talk with me now.
  • 我 饿 了,我们 还是 先 吃饭 吧。Wǒ è le, wǒmen háishì xiān chīfàn ba.I'm hungry; we had better eat first.
  • 这里 太 脏 了,我们 还是 走 吧。Zhèlǐ tài zàng le, wǒmen háishì zǒu ba.It's too dirty here; we'd better leave.
  • 你 做 得 太 慢 了,还是 让 他 做 吧。Nǐ zuò de tài màn le, háishì ràng tā zuò ba.You did too slowly. We'd better ask him to do it.
  • 快 迟到 了,我们 还是 打车 吧。Kuài chídào le, wǒmen háishì dǎchē ba.We're running late. Let's take a taxi.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books

HSK4