Dictionary › 吧
吧
ba
吧 (ba) means "sentence-final particle (suggestion or supposition)". It is an HSK 3.0 level 1 word, and was HSK 2 in the old six-level list.
What 吧 means
- (modal particle indicating suggestion or surmise)
- ...right?
- ...OK?
- ...I presume.
How 吧 is used in grammar
吧 is a grammar word. Each link goes to its own section: what it does in that pattern, the structure, three example sentences with pinyin, and the mistake to avoid.
- Question Methods: 好吗、是不是、吧、呢 ellipsis (HSK 2)
- Sentence-final Particles: 啊、吧、的 (HSK 2)
The official HSK 3.0 grammar outline lists it at level 1, particles (语气助词); level 2, particles (语气助词).
Other readings
- bābar (loanword) (serving drinks, or providing Internet access etc); to puff (on a pipe etc)
- biāsmack!
Example sentences
-
来吧。Come along.
-
学吧！Study!
-
走吧。Let's go!
-
来吧！Come!
-
好吧。Okay.
-
喝吧。Drink.
Words starting with 吧
- 吧嗒bā da(onomatopoeia) patter, splatter, click; to smack one's lips; to pull (on a pipe)
- 吧唧bā jī(onomatopoeia) squishing sound
- 吧主bā zhǔmessage board moderator or administrator
- 吧务bā wùforum manager
- 吧女bā nǚbarmaid
- 吧台bā táicounter of a bar (pub)
- 吧托bā tuōscam girl; woman who lures men to an exorbitantly priced bar 酒吧
- 吧托女bā tuō nǚscam girl; woman who lures men to an exorbitantly priced bar 酒吧
- 吧啦吧啦bā lā bā lā(loanword) blah blah blah
- 吧唧吧唧bā ji bā ji(onomatopoeia) smacking the lips
Words containing 吧
- 酒吧jiǔ bābar (place to buy drinks)
- 网吧wǎng bāInternet café
- 阿西吧ā xī baaw, fuck! (loanword from Korean 아! 씨발!)
- 你看着办吧nǐ kàn zhe bàn baYou figure it out for yourself.; Do as you please.
- 迪吧dí bādisco (coll.); diva (loanword)
- 迪斯科吧dí sī kē bādiscotheque
- 省省吧shěng sheng ba(colloquial) Don't waste your breath.; Save it!
- 贴吧Tiē bāBaidu Tieba, lit. "Baidu Post Bar", a Chinese online forum hosted by Baidu Inc.
- 爆吧bào bāspam flooding
- 大氧吧dà yǎng bāsource of oxygen (of forests and nature reserves); (cliché) lungs of the planet
- 摸吧mō bātouch bar (hostess bar that allows physical contact)
- 泡吧pào bāto spend time in a bar (alcohol, Internet etc); to go clubbing
- 歇了吧xiē le ba(dialect) give me a break!; forget about it!
Characters built on 巴
These share the phonetic component 巴 (bā), which is why their readings rhyme. Learning them as a family is far cheaper than learning them one at a time.
- 把bǎto hold; to grasp; to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate; handlebar
- 爸bàfather; dad; pa
- 爬páto crawl; to climb; to get up or sit up
- 芭bāan unidentified fragrant plant mentioned in the Songs of Chu 楚辞; used in 芭蕉…
- 疤bāscar; scab
- 靶bǎtarget; mark
- 笆bāan article made of bamboo strips; fence
- 琶pásee 琵琶, pipa lute
Characters that look like 吧
Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.
Sounds the same
Read ba, tone for tone, but written differently.
Where 吧 is taught
In the GraphChinese course it is part of School and Work (HSK 2), HSK 2 Characters · Set 2 (HSK 2), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.
Go deeper
- Every HSK 2 word, with the rest of its level.
- How characters are built from components.
- How to learn Chinese characters.
- The four tones and the neutral tone, to read ba correctly.
- Look up another word in the free dictionary.
Looking a word up is not learning it. GraphChinese puts all of HSK 1–6 into one dependency graph, teaches each piece only once its prerequisites are solid, and schedules reviews to land just before you would forget.
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