[Photo/VCG]

When you're first learning Chinese, you learn that 吧 (ba) is used to turn a statement into a suggestion. Easy enough, right? But you'll soon find that this isn't the only way that 吧 (ba) is used!

This tends to trip up many students, but don't worry! These are the four ways that 吧 (ba) is used in Chinese.

1: Used to indicate a suggestion

When you're giving a suggestion, it's highly advisable to add 吧 (ba) at the end of the sentence. Otherwise, it will sound more like an order.

You definitely don't want to make that mistake with your superiors or in-laws!

Examples:

我们走吧！(wǒ men zǒu ba) - Let's go! / Let's leave!

我们明天一起吃晚饭吧！(wǒ men míng tiān yī qǐ chī wǎn fàn ba) - Let's have dinner together tomorrow!

你跟他说一下吧。(nǐ gēn tā shuō yī xià ba) - Let him know. (polite)

2: Used to indicate agreement or approval

This next use of 吧 (ba) communicates agreement or approval of something, but it also has a bit of reluctance to it.

It is most often used following the words 好 (hǎo) - "OK" and 行 (xíng) - "alright". Adding 吧 (ba) this way is a bit similar to "fine" in English, though not quite as harsh.

Again, this use of 吧 (ba) is something you'll want to avoid saying to your boss! Just say 好的 (hǎo de) or 好 (hǎo) for "OK" !

Examples:

好吧。明天也行。(hǎo ba míng tiān yě xíng) - OK. Tomorrow works too. / Fine. Tomorrow works too.

行吧。我们只能这样了。(xíng ba wǒ men zhǐ néng zhè yàng le) - Alright. That's all we can do. / Fine. That's all we can do.

3: Used to indicate uncertainty or guess about something

This is a VERY common use of 吧 (ba), which you'll see a lot in questions as well as statements. This use of 吧 (ba) is used to communicate some level of uncertainty, or to make an educated guess about something.

You can use it when you're somewhat certain about something, but not 100 percent sure.

Examples:

你会说普通话吧？(nǐ huì shuō pǔ tōng huà ba) - You speak Mandarin, right?

他明年就要毕业了，对吧？(tā míng nián jiù yào bì yè le duì ba) - He is graduating next year, right?

应该没什么问题吧。(yīng gāi méi shén me wèn tí ba) - There shouldn't be any problems, right?

4: Used to indicate a pause when weighing options/making comparisons

Note: In this case, "ba" is usually repeated twice.

夏天去爬山吧，天气会很热，冬天去爬山吧，天气又会很冷。(xià tiān qù pá shān ba, tiān qì huì hěn rè, dōng tiān qù pá shān ba, tiān qì yòu huì hěn lěng) - If we go hiking in the summer, it will be hot. If we go in the winter, it will be cold.

跟老板说吧，他会很不开心，不跟老板说吧，公司可能会出大事。(gēn lǎo bǎn shuō ba, tā huì hěn bù kāi xīn, bù gēn lǎo bǎn shuō ba, gōng sī kě néng huì chū dà shì) - If you tell the boss, he won't be happy. If you don't tell him, the company might face serious problems.

That just about wraps up this post on the grammatical uses of 吧 (ba)!

挺简单的吧 (tǐng jiǎn dān de ba)? - Pretty simple, right?