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 。 Zhèyàng bù tài hǎo bā. This style isn't that great.
• 算了 吧 。 Suànle bā. Just forget it.
• 应该 是 吧 。 Yīnggāi shì bā. It should be. [referring to some context]
• 太少了 吧 。 Tàishǎole bā. Too little.
• 这么 晚 了 ， 我们 不 去 了 吧 。 Zhème wǎn le, wǒmen bù qù le bā. It's too late now, we are not going.
• 再 等 等 吧 。 Zài děng děng bā. Wait a little longer.
• 你们 早 点 来 吧 。 Nǐmen zǎo diǎn lái bā. Come a little earlier.
• 快 点 吧 ， 要 迟到 了 。 Kuài diǎn bā, yào chídào le. Hurry, we're going to be late.
• 太 贵 了 吧 ， 我 不 买 了 。 Tài guì le bā, wǒ bù mǎi le. Too expensive! I'm not buying it.
• 你们 家 太 脏 了 吧 。 Nǐmen jiā tài zāng le bā. Your house is a little too dirty.

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

Softening speech when involves options

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 吧 ， 太 远；去 北京 吧 ， 人 太 多 。 Qù Shànghǎi bā, tài yuǎnqù; Běijīng bā, rén tài duō. Going to Shanghai is too far away, going to Beijing has too many people.
• 冬天 去 吧 ， 太冷；夏天 去 吧 ， 太 热 。 Dōngtiān qù bā, tàilěng; xiàtiān qù bā, tài rè. Going in the is too cold, going in the summer is too hot.
• 买 房 吧 ， 没 钱；不 买 房 吧 ， 没 老婆 。 Mǎi fáng bā, méi qián; bù mǎi fáng bā, 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 吧 ， 太 难；不 学 中文 吧 ， 找 不 到 好 工作 。 Xué Zhōngwén bā, tài nán; bù xué Zhōngwén bā, 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 吧 ， 钱 太 少；去 公司 吧 ， 太 累 。 Qù xuéxiào gōngzuò bā, qián tài shǎo; qù gōngsī bā, tài lèi. Working at the school, pay is too small, but working at a company is too tiring.
• 这 件 衣服 ， 买 吧 ， 太 贵；不 买 吧 ， 又 很 喜欢 。 Zhè jiàn yīfu, mǎi bā, tài guì; bù mǎi bā, 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 吧 ， 很 累；不 上班 吧 ， 又 无聊 。 Shǎngbān bā, hěn lěi; bù shàngbān bā, yòu wúliáo. Going to work? Too tiring. Not going to work? There's nothing to do.
• 这 件 事情 ， 你 同意 吧 ， 你 不 高兴；不 同意 吧 ， 别人 不 高兴 。 Zhè jiàn shìqíng, nǐ tóngyì bā, nǐ bù gāoxīng; bù tóngyì bā, 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 吧 ， 需要 等；晚 点 吧 ， 可能 迟到 。 Zǎo diǎn qù bā, xūyào děng; wǎn diǎn bā, kěnéng chídào. If we go early we'll have to wait, but if we go later, we might arrive late.

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) (p. 98) →buy
• Boya Chinese Elementary Starter 1 (博雅汉语初经起步篇) (p. 55) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 4 (新实用汉语课本4) (p. 246) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 2 (pp. 191- 2) →buy