5.11: Lesson 4 Grammar - Suggestions with 吧 (ba)
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- 66593
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The particle 吧 (ba) has a number of different uses. Here we'll talk about the simplest way to use 吧 (ba): making suggestions.
Structure
Command + 吧
Note that in Chinese, whenever you have a command with the subject "we," you're basically just saying, "let's (do something)." 吧 (ba) just makes the suggestion sound more tentative and more polite.
Examples
- 我们走吧。
Wǒmen zǒu ba.
Let's go.
- 你说吧。
Nǐ shuō ba.
You say it.
- 快点吃吧。
Kuài diǎn chī ba.
Hurry up and eat.
- 给我两个吧。
Gěi wǒ liǎng gè ba.
Give me two.
- 喝水吧。
Hē shuǐ ba.
Have some water.
- 我们去香港吧。
Wǒmen qù Xiānggǎng ba.
Let's go to Hong Kong.
- 我们六点去吧？
Wǒmen liù diǎn qù ba?
We're going at 6 o'clock (right)?
- 休息一下吧。
Xiūxi yīxià ba.
Take a break.
- 我们结婚吧。
Wǒmen jiéhūn ba.
Let's get married.
- 老板，便宜一点吧。
Lǎobǎn, piányi yīdiǎn ba.
Boss, can you make it cheaper?
[Note: Here, “boss” refers to a shopkeeper.]
[adapted from AllSet Learning Chinese Grammar Wiki, Creative Commons License BY-NC-SA 3.0]
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Any Questions?
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