Chinese Grammar: Using the particle 呗

Aside from “Shu”, 吧 is one of Lupishu’s favorite particles to use in Chinese, ever since he learned about it in world 2. Maybe it’s one of yours too? Lupishu’s a big dragon now, though, so he feels ready for bigger, more advanced words. That’s smart, so it’s time to introduce a new more advanced particle word in Chinese: 呗！呗 is both close to 吧 and it isn’t. Let’s see why!

Rules

呗 is similar to 吧 in how you use it, so sometimes you just can interchange the two particles in a sentence. They certainly also have their differences. Generally speaking, 呗 is much more assertive than 吧, which as you know, is used a lot for suggestions. 呗’s tone is also more rhetorical than 吧. Can you already tell it’s going to be a fun particle to know?

Before we look at different ways you can use 呗, let’s take a quick look at its structure first. You’re in known territory here: As with all Chinese particles, you always put it at the end of the sentence, or at the end of a phrase.

Structure

[Sentence + 呗]

Now, let’s see the three different ways you can use 呗 in a sentence:

1: Use 呗 to express the “obviousness” of something

If you want to express a certain fact or share something that should be easy to understand by everyone, and follows a common logic, you can use 呗 to show how “obvious/obviously” it is.

Examples

你 不会 游泳 就 多 练习 呗。
Practice more if you don’t know how to swim well. (obviously)

冬天 自然 就 黑 得 早 呗。
It’s normal that the day gets dark earlier in winter. (obvious)

下 了 班 大家 都 回家 了 呗。
After finishing their work, everyone goes back home. (obviously)

2 Express your “indifference” with 呗

You can also show your indifferent attitude with 呗, to express you don’t care whether one does something or not, or to do something with a lack of passion. Nincha did that a lot when he was a teenager and still does, hum. Use it wisely.

Examples

吃 面条 就 吃 面条 呗 ， 我 都 可以。
Just eat noodles then, it means the same for me.

去 就 去 呗 ， 我 无所谓。
Just go there then, I don’t care.

随 你 呗 ， 对我来说 都 一样。
It depends on you, it makes no difference to me.

3 Show your “reluctance” with 呗

呗is an interjection that comes in very handy when expressing a reluctant agreement or comment. You can understand it as “what you can only do is this” in English.

Examples

你 坚持 要 走 的话 ， 那 就 去 呗。
If you insist on going, then go.

我 也 没 别的 办法 了 ， 只能 继续 等 了 呗。
I don’t have any solutions, all I can do now is keep waiting.

如果 你 一定要 让 我 吃 的话 ， 就 吃 呗。
If you must make me eat this, then I'll eat it.

When giving a suggestion or a command, you can interchange 吧 and 呗, for example,你 来 看看 吧 / 呗! Come and see it! But when expressing the doubt and uncertainty of something, you can only use 吧 not 呗. 呗’s your interjection instead to show your unwillingness, indifference, or how obvious you feel something is. Ready to practice?