Skip to content
Mythic Mandarin

I had no choice: 不得不

HSK 5 Unit 4: Luck and necessity · Lesson 3 of 5 · About 26 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can say you had no choice but to do something with 不得不, and talk about difficult decisions at work and home.

Warm-up: do you remember?

Two quick questions from earlier lessons. Recalling before you learn makes the new material stick.

  1. Meaning

    What does 难免 mean?

    1. to cause, to result in
    2. on the whole
    3. hard to avoid, bound to
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, hard to avoid, bound to.

    难免 (nánmiǎn) means hard to avoid, bound to.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “beginner, novice”?

    1. 新手
    2. 由于
    3. 例如
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 新手.

    “beginner, novice” is 新手 (xīnshǒu).

  3. Listening

    From an earlier unit. Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    错过 cuòguò

    1. to miss (a chance)
    2. will (written)
    3. with, by (written)
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, to miss (a chance).

    You heard 错过 (cuòguò): to miss (a chance).

New words

  • 不得不bùdébùto have no choice but to
  • 只好zhǐhǎoto have to (as the only option)
  • 房东fángdōnglandlord
  • 涨zhǎngto rise (prices)

不得不 and 只好

不得不 (bùdébù) is to have no choice but to: there's no other way. 只好 (zhǐhǎo) is similar but softer: the only thing left to do.

  • 房租涨了，我不得不搬家。

    Fángzū zhǎng le, wǒ bùdébù bānjiā.

    The rent went up, so I had no choice but to move.

  • 下大雨，我们只好取消了比赛。

    Xià dàyǔ, wǒmen zhǐhǎo qǔxiāo le bǐsài.

    It rained heavily, so we had to cancel the match.

  • Not: 我不得不不去。

    But: 我不得不留下来。 Wǒ bùdébù liú xiàlai.

    Don't put another 不 after 不得不.

房东 (fángdōng) is a landlord; 涨 (zhǎng) is to rise.

Characters

Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.

Moving again

Mark tells Gao Fei he has to move.

Listen first

Play the whole conversation and answer the questions before you open the transcript.

Helpful words: 商量 shāngliang to discuss

  1. Listening

    Listen first. Why must Mark move?

    1. He has changed to a job far away.
    2. The rent is going up by two thousand.
    3. His flat is too small for him.
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, The rent is going up by two thousand..

    房租要涨两千块.

  2. Listening

    What will change for him?

    1. He'll walk to work.
    2. He'll work from home.
    3. He'll have to get up at six.
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, He'll have to get up at six..

    不得不六点起床了.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 高飞

    你Nǐ怎么zěnme又yòu要yào搬家bānjiā了le？

    Why are you moving again?

  2. 马克

    房东Fángdōng说shuō下个xiàge月yuè房租fángzū要yào涨zhǎng两liǎng千qiān块kuài，我wǒ不得不bùdébù搬bān。

    The landlord says the rent's going up by two thousand next month. I have no choice but to move.

  3. 高飞

    涨Zhǎng这么zhème多duō！你Nǐ跟gēn他tā商量shāngliang了le吗ma？

    That much! Did you talk to him about it?

  4. 马克

    商量Shāngliang了le，他tā不bù同意tóngyì。我Wǒ只好zhǐhǎo找zhǎo别的biéde房子fángzi。

    I did, he won't budge. So I have to look for another flat.

  5. 高飞

    新Xīn房子fángzi离lí公司gōngsī远yuǎn，以后yǐhòu上班shàngbān要yào更gèng早zǎo出门chūmén了le吧ba？

    The new place is further from work, so you'll have to leave earlier, right?

  6. 马克

    是Shì啊a，不得不bùdébú六liù点diǎn起床qǐchuáng了le。

    Yes, I'll have to get up at six.

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.

  • 房东说下个月房租要涨两千块，我不得不搬。

    Fángdōng shuō xiàge yuè fángzū yào zhǎng liǎng qiān kuài, wǒ bùdébù bān.

    The landlord says the rent's going up by two thousand next month. I have no choice but to move.

  • 是啊，不得不六点起床了。

    Shì a, bùdébú liù diǎn qǐchuáng le.

    Yes, I'll have to get up at six.

  • 涨这么多！你跟他商量了吗？

    Zhǎng zhème duō! Nǐ gēn tā shāngliang le ma?

    That much! Did you talk to him about it?

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 不得不 mean?

    1. to respect
    2. to change
    3. to have no choice but to
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, to have no choice but to.

    不得不 (bùdébù) means to have no choice but to.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “to have to (as the only option)”?

    1. 犯错
    2. 难免
    3. 只好
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 只好.

    “to have to (as the only option)” is 只好 (zhǐhǎo).

  3. Word order

    Put the words in order: Why are you moving again?

    • 了
    • 怎么
    • 要
    • 你
    • 搬家
    • 又
    Show the answer

    你怎么又要搬家了 Nǐ zěnme yòu yào bānjiā le?

    Why are you moving again?

    你怎么又要搬家了？ The sentence comes from this lesson's text.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    涨 zhǎng

    1. standard
    2. road
    3. to rise (prices)
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, to rise (prices).

    You heard 涨 (zhǎng): to rise (prices).

  5. Your turn

    Recall: type the Chinese for “to have no choice but to” (characters or pinyin).

    Show the answer

    Answer: 不得不

    “to have no choice but to” is 不得不 (bùdébù).

  6. Grammar

    Which sentence means I had no choice but to go?

    1. 我不得不去。
    2. 我得不不去。
    3. 我不得去不。
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 我不得不去。.

    我不得不去。: 不得不 + verb.

  7. Fill the gap

    Complete: Prices have gone up.

    价格＿＿了。

    1. 涨
    2. 搬
    3. 降
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 涨.

    涨: to rise.

  8. In context

    The last bus has gone. What do you do?

    1. 我只好不回家。
    2. 我只好打车回家。
    3. 我只好不得不回家。
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 我只好打车回家。.

    我只好打车回家。: 只好: the only option left.

  9. Your turn

    Type the Chinese for landlord

    Show the answer

    Answer: 房东

    房东: landlord.

No choice

Talk out loud about three times you had no choice, with 不得不 and 只好.

  1. What happened.
  2. What you had to do.
  3. How you felt about it.

Sentence frames

  • 因为＿＿，我不得不＿＿。

    Yīnwèi ＿＿, wǒ bùdébù ＿＿.

    Because ..., I had no choice but to ...

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 use 不得不 and 只好 for having no choice.
  • I can talk about rent going up and moving.

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.

Next lesson: Is it worth it? 值得 and 仅仅