I’m totally in love with this particle: 吧。
It’s just the coolest little thing. I hear it more and more these days, and I’ve even begun injecting into my own conversations online and via Skype.
For those of you in the Great White North, this must be the most natural particle in the world. It’s roughly equivalent to your natural “eh?” I lived in Windsor, Ontario, for about six months and I became intimately acquainted with this expression. Though it’s not usually written down, the “eh?” particle in Canadian lingo usually falls at the end of a sentence that started with the companion particle, “Oh.”
For example:
“Oh, yeah, eh?”
or
“Oh, let’s go get something to eat, eh?”
It softens the phrase a bit, making it more suggestive. Just like my beloved 吧。
To whit:
“啊，对吧?”
or
“我们去吃饭吧!”
Do pardon the lack of Pinyin, folks — I have no idea how to type it.
But how cool — and intuitive — is this particle?!
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Hi Frank,
I’m a longtime reader who doesn’t comment much (lurker!), but I really enjoy your blog. In fact, it’s become one of my favorites.
You might try this page for an easy way to type pinyin:
http://learn-chinese-words.com/tonetool/
I love your comparison of 吧 to “eh?” I’m sure it will prove helpful to me.
包明光 (bāomínggūang)
Hey! Thanks for commenting! It’s great to know that folks are still finding their way here.
Don’t be shy! Say hello anytime!
Ah yes, ‘eh’ our linguistic gift to the English-speaking world. Along with ‘toque’, of course.
Oh, of course, eh? You ever notice how nobody ever says, “Hey, let’s go out for Canadian food?”
Makes we wonder which of these is more correct
你喜欢吧吧？ (nice if it was but I guess a little confusing)
你喜欢＂吧＂这个字吧？
你喜欢＂吧＂这个词吧？
Aha! I *knew* Amber was from Canada. Something aboot her pronunciation, 吧?
Chris - Honestly, I’d probably use the first one! lol
FuDaWei - Oh, yeah, eh? No doubt!
Hey! We don’t say eh THAT much, eh. Oh wait maybe we do. Oh well I’m happy with my toque, eh. Great post Frank, as always.