……吧 (let’s…)
let’s… / why don’t you…: a friendly suggestion
Structure
我们 + 动词 （+ 宾语） + 吧 · 你 + 动词 （+ 宾语） + 吧
What it means
吧 at the end of a sentence makes a friendly suggestion: “let’s …” with 我们, or a soft “why don’t you …” to someone else.
How it is built
我们 + verb (+ object) + 吧: 我们去喝茶吧 (let’s go for tea). 你 + verb + 吧: 你回家吧 (you’d better go home).
When to use it
Without 吧, 我们去喝茶 just says what we are doing. Say yes to a suggestion with 好 or 行.
Watch out
A suggestion is not a yes-or-no question, so use 吧, not 吗: ✓ 我们走吧 (let’s go). 我们走吗？ only asks “are we going?”.
Examples
我们去喝茶吧。
Let’s go for a cup of tea.
太晚了，你回家吧。
It’s late. You’d better go home.
星期天一起去打球吧！——好！
Let’s play ball on Sunday! — OK!
Learn this in HSK 1 · Lesson 16: 一起去看电影吧 (Making plans)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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