Difference between revisions of "Expressing concern with "kongpa""

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*明天 我 很 忙,<em>恐怕</em> 没 时间 有。<span class="pinyin">Míngtiān wǒ hěn máng, <em>kǒngpà</em> méi you shíjiān.</span> <span class="trans">I'm busy tomorrow. I'm afraid I don't have time.</span>
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*明天 我 很 忙,<em>恐怕</em> 没 有 时间。<span class="pinyin">Míngtiān wǒ hěn máng, <em>kǒngpà</em> méi yǒu shíjiān.</span> <span class="trans">I'm busy tomorrow. I'm afraid I don't have time.</span>
 
*已经 很 晚 了,<em>恐怕</em> 他 不 会 来 了。<span class="pinyin">Yǐjīng hěn wǎn le, <em>kǒngpà </em> tā bù huì lái le.</span> <span class="trans">It's already very late. I'm afraid he's not coming.</span>
 
*已经 很 晚 了,<em>恐怕</em> 他 不 会 来 了。<span class="pinyin">Yǐjīng hěn wǎn le, <em>kǒngpà </em> tā bù huì lái le.</span> <span class="trans">It's already very late. I'm afraid he's not coming.</span>
 
*工作 太 多 了,<em>恐怕</em> 今天 做 不 完。<span class="pinyin"> Gōngzuò tài duō le, <em>kǒngpà </em> jīntiān zuò bù wán.</span> <span class="trans">The work is too much. I'm afraid I can't finish them all today.</span>
 
*工作 太 多 了,<em>恐怕</em> 今天 做 不 完。<span class="pinyin"> Gōngzuò tài duō le, <em>kǒngpà </em> jīntiān zuò bù wán.</span> <span class="trans">The work is too much. I'm afraid I can't finish them all today.</span>

Revision as of 08:34, 29 September 2016

Chinese-grammar-wiki-恐怕.jpg

恐怕 (kǒngpà) can be used to express "I'm afraid," or "I'm concerned that" or even "I'm worried that" insert some sort of reason.

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。Míngtiān wǒ hěn máng, kǒngpà méi yǒu shíjiān. I'm busy tomorrow. I'm afraid I don't have time.
  • 已经 很 晚 了,恐怕 他 不 会 来 了。Yǐjīng hěn wǎn le, kǒngpà tā bù huì lái le. It's already very late. I'm afraid he's not coming.
  • 工作 太 多 了,恐怕 今天 做 不 完。 Gōngzuò tài duō le, kǒngpà jīntiān zuò bù wán. The work is too much. I'm afraid I can't finish them all today.
  • 饭 太 多 了,恐怕 我 吃 不 完。Fàn tài duō le, kǒngpà wǒ chī bù wán. The food is too much. I'm afraid I can't eat it all.
  • 这样 做 恐怕 不行。Zhèyàng zuò kǒngpà bù xíng. I'm afraid it doesn't work this way.
  • 恐怕 他 不 会 听 你 的 话。Kǒngpà tā bù huì tīng nǐ de huà. I'm afraid he won't listen to what you said.

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:

  • 恐怕今天没有时间做作业。Never put 我 before 恐怕! kǒngpà jīntiān méiyóǔ shíjiān zuò zuòyè.
  • 恐怕今天没有时间做作业。Always use 恐怕 before 我.Kǒngpàjīntiān méiyóǔ shíjiān zuò zuòyè.I'm afraid today I don't have time to do homework.

Sources and further reading

Books