Softening speech with "ba"

The particle 吧 (ba) can be used to soften the feel of a sentence. This could be to make it more polite, gentler and less forceful, or to turn a command into a suggestion.

Softening speech

The structure of this grammar point is pretty simple:

Structure

Statement + 吧

Examples

• 这样 不 太 好 吧。This style isn't that great.
• 算了 吧。Just forget it.
• 应该 是 吧。It should be. [referring to some context]
• 太少了吧。Too little.
• 这么 晚 了，我们 不 去 了吧。This late, we are not going.
• 再 等 等 吧。Wait here.
• 你们 早 点 来 吧。Come as early as you want.
• 快 点 吧，要 迟到 了。
• 太 贵 了 吧，我 不 买 了。
• 你们 家 太 脏 了 吧。

Note that to make suggestions for a group of people including oneself, 咱们 is often used with 吧.

Softening speech when involves options

When 吧 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 吧，太 远；去 北京 吧，人 太 多。
• 冬天 去 吧，太冷；夏天 去 吧，太 热。
• 买 房 吧，没 钱；不 买 房 吧，没 老婆。
• 学 中文 吧，太 难；不 学 中文 吧，找 不 到 好 工作。
• 去 学校 工作 吧，钱 太 少；去 公司 吧，太 累。
• 这 件 衣服，买 吧，太 贵；不 买 吧，又 很 喜欢。As for these clothes, buying them is too expensive, but I really like them, so if I don't...
• 上班吧，很 累；不 上班吧，又 无聊。Going to work? Too tiring. Not going to work? There's nothing to do.
• 这 件 事情，你 同意 吧，对 你 没 好处；不 同意 吧，别人 又 不 高兴。As for this, if you agree, it doesn't help you. If you don't, other people won't be happy.
• 早 点 去吧，需要 等；晚 点 吧，担心 迟到。Going early, we'll have to wait. But going late, I'm worried we might be tardy.

See also

• Suggestions with "ba"
• Conceding with "ba"
• Verb reduplication

Sources and further reading

Books

• Chinese Grammar - Broken down into 100 items - Basic and Intermediate Levels (汉语语法百项讲练 - 初中级) →buy
• Short-term Spoken Chinese: Pre-Intermediate (汉语口语速成提高篇) (pp. 52-3)
• Short-term Spoken Chinese: Elementary (汉语口语速成基础篇) (98) →buy
• Boya Chinese Elementary Starter 1 (博雅汉语初经起步篇) (pp. 55) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 4 (新实用汉语课本4) (pp. 246) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 2 (pp. 191- 2) →buy