Level 4 · Upper Intermediate
Hedged bad news with 恐怕
恐怕 + Statement
恐怕 (kǒngpà) softens bad news: "I'm afraid that…". Put it before the unwelcome part: 他恐怕不能来了 "I'm afraid he can't come". You're not scared — you're politely warning that something won't go well.
Don't confuse it with 怕 "to fear". 恐怕 is a sentence adverb about the situation; actually fearing something is 怕 or 害怕: 我怕狗 "I'm afraid of dogs". 我恐怕狗 doesn't exist.
Examples
明天恐怕要下雨。
míng tiān kǒng pà yào xià yǔ
I'm afraid it's going to rain tomorrow.
现在去恐怕太晚了。
現在去恐怕太晚了。
xiàn zài qù kǒng pà tài wǎn le
I'm afraid it's too late to go now.
他恐怕不能来了。
他恐怕不能來了。
tā kǒng pà bù néng lái le
I'm afraid he won't be able to come.
这件事恐怕没有那么简单。
這件事恐怕沒有那麼簡單。
zhè jiàn shì kǒng pà méi yǒu nà me jiǎn dān
I'm afraid this matter isn't that simple.
Common mistakes
✗ 我恐怕狗。
✓ 我怕狗。
Fearing a thing is 怕/害怕 — 恐怕 only hedges bad news about a situation.
Related grammar points
Practice this pattern in graded stories like The Picnic That Almost Wasn't (Part 1) inside the Literate Chinese app.
