ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY

(suggestion particle) let's; okay?

ba
7 strokes · 口 (mouth radical) + 巴 (sound bā) · HSK 2

Where 吧 comes from

吧 is a mouth 口 plus the sound 巴 — a pure spoken-language character, invented late to write down a noise Chinese speakers were already making. It softens whatever comes before it: a command becomes an invitation, a statement becomes a guess.

吧 in Chinese culture

走吧 'let's go', 好吧 'fine, okay', 是吧? 'right?' — 吧 is the social lubricant of Mandarin. Drop it and you sound like you're giving orders; add it and you're making friendly suggestions. It also spells 'bar': 酒吧 (jiǔbā) borrowed the English word, and 网吧 is an internet café.

Example

好吧 hǎo ba — okay then

我们走吧。
Wǒmen zǒu ba.
Let's go.

How to remember it

A mouth 口 going 'bah' — the soft LET'S / OKAY? tacked onto sentences.

酒吧 'alcohol-bar' is a loanword built with 吧 purely for its sound — so a character invented for grammar moonlights as every bar sign in China.

Same sound, different tones

1st bā
eight
2nd bá
to pull out
3rd bǎ
to hold
4th bà
dad

Words unlocked by 吧

好吧 hǎo ba
okay then
走吧 zǒu ba
let's go
吃吧 chī ba
go ahead, eat

Related characters

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