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Mythic Mandarin

Probably and not necessarily: 恐怕, 未必 and 不见得

HSK 6 Unit 7: News and reported speech · Lesson 2 of 5 · About 26 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can soften a claim with 恐怕 and doubt one with 未必 and 不见得, and judge whether an online claim is true.

Warm-up: do you remember?

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

  1. Meaning

    What does 据 mean?

    1. to suppose, hypothesis
    2. nursing, to nurse
    3. according to
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, according to.

    据 (jù) means according to.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “source”?

    1. 凡是
    2. 假设
    3. 来源
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 来源.

    “source” is 来源 (láiyuán).

  3. Listening

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

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    人间 rénjiān

    1. to experience, experience
    2. benefits, welfare
    3. the human world
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, the human world.

    You heard 人间 (rénjiān): the human world.

New words

  • 恐怕kǒngpàI'm afraid, probably
  • 未必wèibìnot necessarily
  • 不见得bù jiàndenot necessarily, unlikely
  • 判断pànduànto judge, judgement
  • 谣言yáoyánrumour
  • 夸大kuādàto exaggerate

恐怕, 未必 and 不见得

恐怕 (kǒngpà) softens a prediction or bad news: I'm afraid, probably. 未必 (wèibì) and 不见得 (bú jiànde) doubt a claim politely: not necessarily. 不见得 is more spoken.

  • 恐怕他今天来不了了。

    Kǒngpà tā jīntiān láibuliǎo le.

    I'm afraid he won't be able to come today.

  • 贵的东西未必好。

    Guì de dōngxi wèibì hǎo.

    Expensive things aren't necessarily good.

  • 他说的不见得是真的。

    Tā shuō de bú jiànde shì zhēn de.

    What he says isn't necessarily true.

  • Not: 我恐怕喜欢你。

    But: 我恐怕不能来。 Wǒ kǒngpà bù néng lái.

    恐怕 softens bad news or a guess, not a feeling.

Characters

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

Lose ten kilos in a week?

Chen Jing shows Gao Fei an advert she saw online.

Listen first

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

Helpful words: 网上 wǎngshàng online; 广告 guǎnggào advert; 减肥 jiǎnféi to lose weight; 公斤 gōngjīn kilogram

  1. Listening

    Listen first. What does the advert promise?

    1. losing ten kilos in a week
    2. a free gift with every order
    3. a new book about healthy eating
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, losing ten kilos in a week.

    一个星期减肥十公斤.

  2. Listening

    How does Gao Fei suggest judging the claim?

    1. see what doctors or experts say
    2. ask friends who have tried it
    3. try it for a week himself
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, see what doctors or experts say.

    看看医生或者专家怎么说.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 陈静

    你Nǐ看kàn这个zhège广告guǎnggào：一yí个gè星期xīngqī减肥jiǎnféi十shí公斤gōngjīn！

    Look at this advert: lose ten kilos in a week!

  2. 高飞

    恐怕Kǒngpà是shì假jiǎ的de吧ba。一Yí个gè星期xīngqī减jiǎn十shí公斤gōngjīn，对duì身体shēntǐ也yě不bù好hǎo。

    I'm afraid it's fake. Losing ten kilos in a week isn't good for you either.

  3. 陈静

    可是Kěshì下面xiàmian有yǒu很hěn多duō人rén说shuō有yǒu用yòng。

    But lots of people below say it works.

  4. 高飞

    人Rén多duō未必wèibì说明shuōmíng是shì真zhēn的de。这些Zhèxiē评价píngjià不见得bú jiànde是shì真实zhēnshí的de顾客gùkè写xiě的de。

    Lots of people doesn't necessarily mean it's true. These reviews aren't necessarily written by real customers.

  5. 陈静

    那Nà我们wǒmen怎么zěnme判断pànduàn呢ne？

    So how do we judge?

  6. 高飞

    看看Kànkan医生yīshēng或者huòzhě专家zhuānjiā怎么zěnme说shuō。网上Wǎngshàng的de广告guǎnggào很hěn多duō都dōu夸大kuādà了le，有的yǒude就jiù是shì谣言yáoyán。

    See what doctors or experts say. Many online adverts exaggerate, and some are just rumours.

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.

  • 人多未必说明是真的。这些评价不见得是真实的顾客写的。

    Rén duō wèibì shuōmíng shì zhēn de. Zhèxiē píngjià bú jiànde shì zhēnshí de gùkè xiě de.

    Lots of people doesn't necessarily mean it's true. These reviews aren't necessarily written by real customers.

  • 那我们怎么判断呢？

    Nà wǒmen zěnme pànduàn ne?

    So how do we judge?

  • 恐怕是假的吧。一个星期减十公斤，对身体也不好。

    Kǒngpà shì jiǎ de ba. Yí gè xīngqī jiǎn shí gōngjīn, duì shēntǐ yě bù hǎo.

    I'm afraid it's fake. Losing ten kilos in a week isn't good for you either.

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 恐怕 mean?

    1. situation, circumstances
    2. compared with
    3. I'm afraid, probably
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, I'm afraid, probably.

    恐怕 (kǒngpà) means I'm afraid, probably.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “not necessarily”?

    1. 未必
    2. 判断
    3. 可靠
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 未必.

    “not necessarily” is 未必 (wèibì).

  3. Word order

    Put the words in order: So how do we judge?

    • 我们
    • 判断
    • 怎么
    • 那
    • 呢
    Show the answer

    那我们怎么判断呢 Nà wǒmen zěnme pànduàn ne?

    So how do we judge?

    那我们怎么判断呢？ The sentence comes from this lesson's text.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    判断 pànduàn

    1. vegetables
    2. to judge, judgement
    3. to go shopping, to stroll the streets
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, to judge, judgement.

    You heard 判断 (pànduàn): to judge, judgement.

  5. Your turn

    Recall: type the Chinese for “rumour” (characters or pinyin).

    Show the answer

    Answer: 谣言

    “rumour” is 谣言 (yáoyán).

  6. Grammar

    Which sentence doubts a claim politely?

    1. 名牌未必质量好。
    2. 他恐怕喜欢这个。
    3. 不见得他来。
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 名牌未必质量好。.

    名牌未必质量好。: 未必 + the claim you doubt.

  7. Fill the gap

    Complete: I'm afraid it's too late.

    ＿＿已经太晚了。

    1. 未必
    2. 判断
    3. 恐怕
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 恐怕.

    恐怕: I'm afraid.

  8. In context

    Everyone says a famous actor has died, but he is alive and well. What was it?

    1. 一个判断
    2. 一个来源
    3. 一个谣言
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 一个谣言.

    一个谣言: 谣言: rumour.

  9. Your turn

    Type the Chinese for not necessarily

    Show the answer

    Answer: 未必

    未必: not necessarily.

Fact or rumour?

Judge out loud a claim you have seen online or in an advert, in six sentences.

  1. State the claim.
  2. Doubt it with 未必 or 不见得.
  3. Give a careful guess with 恐怕.
  4. Say how you would check it.

Sentence frames

  • 这个说法未必＿＿。

    Zhège shuōfa wèibì ＿＿.

    This claim isn't necessarily ...

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 soften claims with 恐怕 and doubt them with 未必 and 不见得.
  • I can talk about judging claims, rumours and exaggeration.

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: Not only: 不仅…还