Reviewing options with "ba"

Revision as of 01:27, 26 November 2014 by WikiSysop (talk | contribs)

When 吧 (ba) is used twice in a sentence, it is used to list two options that the speaker is debating. It gives the sentence an indecisive feel, as though the speaker doesn't know which one to choose. This construction often has a negative connotation, since the options usually are not ideal.

Structure

Option 1 + 吧 , Evaluation ; Option 2 + 吧 , Evaluation

If this structure doesn't seem clear to you, the examples will help.

Examples

  • 去 上海 , 太 远;去 北京 , 人 太 多 。 Qù Shànghǎi , tài yuǎnqù; Běijīng , rén tài duō. Going to Shanghai is too far away, going to Beijing has too many people.
  • 冬天 去 , 太冷;夏天 去 , 太 热 。 Dōngtiān qù , tàilěng; xiàtiān qù , tài rè. Going in the winter is too cold, going in the summer is too hot.
  • 买 房 , 没 钱;不 买 房 , 没 老婆 。 Mǎi fáng , méi qián; bù mǎi fáng , méi lǎopó. If you buy a house, you won't have money. If you don't buy a house you won't have a wife.
  • 学 中文 , 太 难;不 学 中文 , 找 不 到 好 工作 。 Xué Zhōngwén , tài nán; bù xué Zhōngwén , zhǎo bù dào hǎo gōngzuò. Studying Mandarin is too hard, but if you don't study Mandarin you cannot find a job.
  • 去 学校 工作 , 钱 太 少;去 公司 , 太 累 。 Qù xuéxiào gōngzuò , qián tài shǎo; qù gōngsī , tài lèi. Working at the school, pay is too small, but working at a company is too tiring.
  • 这 件 衣服 , 买 , 太 贵;不 买 , 又 很 喜欢 。 Zhè jiàn yīfu, mǎi , tài guì; bù mǎi , yòu hěn xǐhuan. As for these clothes, buying them is too expensive, but if I don't buy them, I'll really want them.
  • 上班 , 很 累;不 上班 , 又 无聊 。 Shàngbān , hěn lěi; bù shàngbān , yòu wúliáo. Going to work? Too tiring. Not going to work? There's nothing to do.
  • 这 件 事情 , 你 同意 , 你 不 高兴;不 同意 , 别人 不 高兴 。 Zhè jiàn shìqíng, nǐ tóngyì , nǐ bù gāoxīng; bù tóngyì , biérén bù gāoxìng. As for this matter, if you agree, you won't be happy, if you don't agree, other people won't be happy.
  • 早 点 去 , 需要 等;晚 点 , 可能 迟到 。 Zǎo diǎn qù , xūyào děng; wǎn diǎn , kěnéng chídào. If we go early we'll have to wait, but if we go later, we might arrive late.
HSK4