Let's go! Suggestions with 吧
HSK 2 Unit 5: Skills and advice · Lesson 2 of 5 · About 16 minutes
Preview version — Chinese review in progress.
Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can make suggestions with 吧, check what you think is true with …吧？, and plan a walk or a hike.
Audio preview uses your device’s Chinese voice. It is not a recording.
Warm-up: do you remember?
Two quick questions from earlier lessons. Recalling before you learn makes the new material stick.
Meaning
What does 得 mean?
That is 辆 (liàng).
That is 楼 (lóu).
Show the answer
Answer: A, (links a verb to how it is done).
得 (de) means (links a verb to how it is done).
Characters
Which word means “(links a verb to how it is done)”?
张 (zhāng) means (for flat things: tickets, tables, paper).
往 (wǎng) means towards.
Show the answer
Answer: C, 得.
“(links a verb to how it is done)” is 得 (de).
Listening
From an earlier unit. Listen. What does the word mean?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
第 dì
That would be 戴 (dài).
That would be 当然 (dāngrán).
Show the answer
Answer: C, (prefix for ordinal numbers).
You heard 第 (dì): (prefix for ordinal numbers).
New words
吧 for suggestions
吧 (ba) at the end of a sentence turns it into a suggestion: let's, why don't you. It is softer than an order.
我们走吧！
Wǒmen zǒu ba!
Let's go!
你休息吧。
Nǐ xiūxi ba.
Why don't you have a rest?
我们去爬山吧。
Wǒmen qù páshān ba.
Let's go hiking.
吧 to check
In a question, 吧 means I suppose, right? You expect the answer yes.
你是马克吧？
Nǐ shì Mǎkè ba?
You must be Mark, right?
你累了吧？
Nǐ lèi le ba?
You're tired, aren't you?
Not:
你是马克吗吧？But: 你是马克吧？ Nǐ shì Mǎkè ba?
Use 吧 or 吗, not both.
Characters
- 吧 = 口
Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.
A walk or a hike?
Anna and Xiaoyu plan their Sunday.
Listen first
Play the whole conversation and answer the questions before you open the transcript.
Listening
Listen first. What does Anna suggest first?
Show the answer
Answer: B, hiking.
我们去爬山吧.
Listening
Why doesn't Xiaoyu want to go hiking?
Show the answer
Answer: A, She is tired..
爬山太累了 and 你累了吧？ 对，很累.
Show the transcript
安娜
小雨，星期天天气很好。我们去爬山吧！
Xiaoyu, the weather is nice on Sunday. Let's go hiking!
小雨
爬山太累了。我们去公园散步吧。
Hiking is too tiring. Let's go for a walk in the park.
安娜
你累了吧？你今天工作了十个小时。
You're tired, aren't you? You worked ten hours today.
小雨
对，很累。
Yes, very.
安娜
好吧，星期天我们在外面散步，下个星期去爬山。
All right, on Sunday we'll go for a walk outside, and next week we'll go hiking.
小雨
好！
OK!
Speak: listen, record, compare
Listen to each model, record yourself, then play both and compare: the rhythm, the tones, the vowels. No automatic score: your ear is the judge.
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Recording is not available in this browser. Listen, then repeat aloud and compare by ear.
好吧，星期天我们在外面散步，下个星期去爬山。
Hǎo ba, xīngqītiān wǒmen zài wàimian sànbù, xiàge xīngqī qù páshān.
All right, on Sunday we'll go for a walk outside, and next week we'll go hiking.
爬山太累了。我们去公园散步吧。
Páshān tài lèi le. Wǒmen qù gōngyuán sànbù ba.
Hiking is too tiring. Let's go for a walk in the park.
小雨，星期天天气很好。我们去爬山吧！
Xiǎoyǔ, xīngqītiān tiānqì hěn hǎo. Wǒmen qù páshān ba!
Xiaoyu, the weather is nice on Sunday. Let's go hiking!
Practice
Meaning
What does 吧 mean?
That is 小 (xiǎo).
That is 做饭 (zuòfàn).
Show the answer
Answer: C, (for suggestions, and for I suppose).
吧 (ba) means (for suggestions, and for I suppose).
Characters
Which word means “to climb a mountain, to go hiking”?
散步 (sànbù) means to go for a walk.
外面 (wàimian) means outside.
Show the answer
Answer: B, 爬山.
“to climb a mountain, to go hiking” is 爬山 (páshān).
Pinyin
How do you read 散步 (to go for a walk)?
Show the answer
Answer: A, sànbù.
散步 is read sànbù. Check the tone mark on every syllable.
Listening
Listen. What does the word mean?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
外面 wàimian
That would be 号 (hào).
That would be 昨天 (zuótiān).
Show the answer
Answer: A, outside.
You heard 外面 (wàimian): outside.
Pinyin
Type the pinyin of 吧 ((for suggestions, and for I suppose)). Tone marks or tone numbers are welcome.
Show the answer
Answer: ba
吧 is ba in pinyin.
Grammar
Which sentence is a suggestion: Let's eat?
Show the answer
Answer: B, 我们吃饭吧。.
我们吃饭吧。: 我们吃饭吧: let's eat.
Fill the gap
Complete: You must be Li Ming, right?
你是李明＿＿？
Show the answer
Answer: A, 吧.
你是李明吧？ 吧 when you expect yes.
In context
Your friend looks very tired. What do you suggest?
Show the answer
Answer: C, 你休息吧。.
你休息吧。: 你休息吧: why don't you rest?
Your turn
Type the Chinese for Let's go!
Show the answer
Answer: 我们走吧
我们走吧: let's go!
Make plans
Make three suggestions for the weekend with 吧, out loud, and react to them.
- Suggest an activity: 我们…吧！
- Say why not: …太…了。
- Suggest something else and agree: 好吧。
Sentence frames
星期天我们去＿＿吧！
Xīngqītiān wǒmen qù ＿＿ ba!
Let's go ... on Sunday!
Record your attempt (three and a half minutes at most) and listen back:
Review and finish
Can you do this? If a line feels shaky, go back to that part before you move on.
- I can make suggestions with 吧.
- I can check something with …吧？ when I expect yes.
Review works best spaced out: answer these exercises again tomorrow, then after a few days. Your progress is saved in this browser.
Completing records that you finished the lesson. Mastery is separate: it grows as reviews bring the exercises back and you answer them correctly.