岂不…
wouldn’t that be …? (rhetorical)
Structure
（如果）情况 ， 岂不（是） 结论 ？
What it means
岂 is classical for 难道, so 岂不 = 难道不: a rhetorical question that expects a yes and states a conclusion with force.
How it is built
(If) situation，岂不（是）+ conclusion？: 现在才出发，岂不是白跑一趟？ (if we set off only now, wouldn’t it be a wasted trip?) Typical: 岂不是…吗, 岂不更好, 岂不可惜.
When to use it
Bookish; common in writing and argument, usually after a condition or a plan. Plain 岂 survives in speech only in set phrases such as 岂有此理; you met 又岂在朝朝暮暮 (lesson 2-15).
Watch out
Don’t read it as a denial: 岂不是浪费 means “that would be a waste”, not “that isn’t a waste”. The answer it expects is always yes.
Examples
把又脏又累又危险的活儿交给机器人，让工人去做更有技术含量的工作，岂不是一举两得？
Hand the dirty, exhausting and dangerous jobs to robots and let workers do skilled work: wouldn’t that kill two birds with one stone?
现在才出发，到了那儿人家早就关门了，岂不是白跑一趟？
If we set off only now, they will have closed long before we get there: wouldn’t that be a wasted trip?
大家都知道了，只有你还蒙在鼓里，岂不可笑？
Everybody knows except you: isn’t that absurd?
Learn this in Lesson 73 · HSK 6: 机器人与低空经济 (Robots, drones and the low-altitude economy)
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.
Open the lesson →