Softening speech with "ba"

Structure

The particle 吧 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. The structure is:

Subject + Verb + Object + 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]

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

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