B1 · Grammar reference
Expressing "had better" with "haishi"
One of the ways to use 还是 (háishì) is to have it mean "you had better," after having compared two options. Usually there's even a bit of deliberation before the speaker announces what "it would be better" to do, using 还是.
- Keywords
- 还是 · 还 · 是 · 吧 · had better
- Used for
- Expressing quality · Expressing obligations
- Classification
- Adverbs
Examples (10)
还是明天去吧。
还是让她进来吧。
你还是快点走吧。
我们还是帮帮他吧。
太晚了，还是先回家吧。
这里太脏了，我们还是走吧。
快迟到了，我们还是打车吧。
太贵了，还是别买了。
她不想说，还是不要再问了。
他一定不同意，还是别跟他说了。
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Summary, structure, classification, and adapted sentence examples draw from the AllSet Learning Chinese Grammar Wiki under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0; changes were made. This noncommercial reference is based on an October 2023 snapshot.
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