<p>Well, in our normal life, 吧 is usually used for the moments when you are guessing/questioning/acquiring/normal words ending/agree....
吧 can be used in many situations.</p>

<p>But 嘛 is a little kind of "spoiled", totally used between friends and girl/boy friends, also used for acquiring, not used for guessing. It's sometimes used when you are angry. “好嘛，你竟然骗我！”</p>

<p>罢 is a little kind of "compromise", or "have no choice". It's usually used in literature; it's not normal to use it in daily life. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-30T00:18:25.300Z
2016-06-03T19:16:26.150Z
2016-06-03T19:16:26.150Z
Cheng Meiyi
<p>吧 is almost used at the end of a sentence (except when it's a phonetic transliteration of the English word BAR, as in 酒吧，网吧),  to express several moods.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>when you guess or estimate something
  这道题目的答案是A吧。
  <em>The answer to this problem is A (I guess it should be, but not sure)</em></p>
  
  <p>When you try to persuade someone to do something or propose a plan/advice/scheme, etc. In this case, the word 吧 softens your voice, so it's not a strong proposal.
  六点了，我们去吃饭吧。
  <em>It's 6 o'clock. Let's go to take a dinner. ( Is that fine?)</em>
  不要跑，等下一班车吧。
  <em>Don't run. (You may) wait for the next shift of bus. (In my opinion).</em></p>
  
  <p>when used at the end of an phrasal verb or imperial sentence, 吧 can express strong feelings that you are extremely angry or excited. In this case, you may speak this word louder.
  燃烧吧，小宇宙！
  A famous line from the popular Japanese manga  Saint Seiya.
  Who can knidly give me a good translation?</p>
  
  <p>When you feel that something doesn't deserves your concerning, or when you think that your can do nothing to help.
  分手我不怕，就这样吧。
  A sentence from the lyric of the song 一夜长大 by famous singer 梁静茹。
  <em>I'm not afraid of breaking up. Let it be.</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>The word 罢 can be interchangeable with 吧, as a mood word. However, I think this usage is outdated and less and less popular. You may read it often in old articles. For example, articles by 鲁迅. In his time,  the modern Chinese started developing, so some rules/words are not fixed, I think.</p>

<p>As a verb, 罢 can mean “to finish, to abandon, to dismiss” . As other answers pointed out, you can use it at the end of a verb to indicate the action has finished. This function is similar with the particle in English .
说罢，他就跑了。
<em>(Finishing) saying (that), he runs away.</em></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>嘛 is more confusing.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I'm from Southwest China. People here prefer 嘛 to 吧 and it is used whenever 吧 can be. When speaking in the local dialect in my ordinary life, I never say 吧. However, I always use 吧 when speaking in Mandarin.Also, I seldom find  嘛 on television and newspaper, so I think  嘛 is more a regional choice. Can someone from other regions tell me how 嘛 is used there?</p>

<p>I'd like to treat 好嘛 as a single word, other than a compound of 好 plus 吧. I can't catch up with other words in this pattern.</p>

<p>嘛 can mean "what" in oral speech, and this usage is common. If I'm not wrong, people from 天津 region use this quite a lot.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-04T12:42:55.363Z
2016-07-04T12:42:55.363Z
Huang
<p>At the end of a sentence in a conversation, how does one distinguish between 吧 and 嘛, 罢 and 嘛?</p>

<word-choice><word-requests><particles>
How to distinguish between 吧 and 嘛, 罢 and 嘛
# How to distinguish between 吧 and 嘛, 罢 and 嘛

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-05-28)

At the end of a sentence in a conversation, how does one distinguish between 吧 and 嘛, 罢 and 嘛?

**Tags:** word-choice, word-requests, particles


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-05-30. Score: 3

Well, in our normal life, 吧 is usually used for the moments when you are guessing/questioning/acquiring/normal words ending/agree....
吧 can be used in many situations.

But 嘛 is a little kind of "spoiled", totally used between friends and girl/boy friends, also used for acquiring, not used for guessing. It's sometimes used when you are angry. “好嘛，你竟然骗我！”

罢 is a little kind of "compromise", or "have no choice". It's usually used in literature; it's not normal to use it in daily life.


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2016-07-04. Score: 2

吧 is almost used at the end of a sentence (except when it's a phonetic transliteration of the English word BAR, as in 酒吧，网吧), to express several moods.

> when you guess or estimate something
> 这道题目的答案是A吧。
> *The answer to this problem is A (I guess it should be, but not sure)*
>
> When you try to persuade someone to do something or propose a plan/advice/scheme, etc. In this case, the word 吧 softens your voice, so it's not a strong proposal.
> 六点了，我们去吃饭吧。
> *It's 6 o'clock. Let's go to take a dinner. ( Is that fine?)*
> 不要跑，等下一班车吧。
> *Don't run. (You may) wait for the next shift of bus. (In my opinion).*
>
> when used at the end of an phrasal verb or imperial sentence, 吧 can express strong feelings that you are extremely angry or excited. In this case, you may speak this word louder.
> 燃烧吧，小宇宙！
> A famous line from the popular Japanese manga Saint Seiya.
> Who can knidly give me a good translation?
>
> When you feel that something doesn't deserves your concerning, or when you think that your can do nothing to help.
> 分手我不怕，就这样吧。
> A sentence from the lyric of the song 一夜长大 by famous singer 梁静茹。
> *I'm not afraid of breaking up. Let it be.*

The word 罢 can be interchangeable with 吧, as a mood word. However, I think this usage is outdated and less and less popular. You may read it often in old articles. For example, articles by 鲁迅. In his time, the modern Chinese started developing, so some rules/words are not fixed, I think.

As a verb, 罢 can mean “to finish, to abandon, to dismiss” . As other answers pointed out, you can use it at the end of a verb to indicate the action has finished. This function is similar with the particle in English .
说罢，他就跑了。
*(Finishing) saying (that), he runs away.*

> 嘛 is more confusing.

I'm from Southwest China. People here prefer 嘛 to 吧 and it is used whenever 吧 can be. When speaking in the local dialect in my ordinary life, I never say 吧. However, I always use 吧 when speaking in Mandarin.Also, I seldom find 嘛 on television and newspaper, so I think 嘛 is more a regional choice. Can someone from other regions tell me how 嘛 is used there?

I'd like to treat 好嘛 as a single word, other than a compound of 好 plus 吧. I can't catch up with other words in this pattern.

嘛 can mean "what" in oral speech, and this usage is common. If I'm not wrong, people from 天津 region use this quite a lot.


---

