(ba) - suggestion or softening particle (let's, shall we, I suppose) in Mandarin
baTraditional: 吧
Translation
suggestion or softening particle (let's, shall we, I suppose)
Word origin
The sentence particle 吧 is a phono-semantic compound: the mouth radical 口 marks it as a spoken sound, and 巴 (bā) supplies the pronunciation. The mouth radical is the standard signal for a spoken particle.
- Origin
- phono-semantic compound
- Root
- 口 (mouth radical) + 巴 (bā, phonetic)
Stroke order
吧
Examples
。
Let's go.
。
Come on then.
？
He's a teacher, I suppose?
。
Let's go together.
。
Why don't you rest a bit first.
吧 (ba) is a sentence-final particle that softens commands, makes suggestions, or signals supposition.
Appears in 1 word
Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 吧.
Used in
Stories
(4)Grammar articles
(9)Mandarin Advanced Grammar (C1-C2 / HSK 6+): Chengyu, Classical Remnants, and Register
Mandarin Complements: 得 for Manner, Directional Endings, and How to Attach a Result to a Verb
Concession in Mandarin: 虽然...还是/但是, 不过, and 还是 (Although, Even So, Nonetheless)
Figurative Directional Complements in Mandarin: 起来, 下去 and 出来 Beyond Up, Down and Out
The Mandarin Durative 着 (zhe): Marking a State That Continues (门开着, 拿着书, 笑着说)
Mandarin Intermediate Grammar (B1-B2 / HSK 4-5): Complements, Conjunctions and the Full 了 System
Mandarin Question Formation: 吗, V-Not-V, 还是, and the In-Situ Wh-Word System
Mandarin Requests and Imperatives: 请, 别, 不要, the Softening Particles 吧/啊, and Verb Reduplication
Topic-Comment Structure in Mandarin: Fronting 这本书我看过 and Why Word Order Bends
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