他来了 / 他来了吧 / 他来了吗 / 他来吧 / 他来喽

[matty884]

I found this when searching for 了吧 (Since I often hear "了吧“ at the end of Mandarin speakers sentences...and was wondering how it affected the meaning of the sentence) on a website:

他来了。他来了吧。 （note: very different from 他来了吧？) 他来了么。（note: very different from 他来了吗？）他来吧。他来喽。

I was wondering how each particle, 了﹐ 了吧﹐了吧﹖﹐麼﹐ 嗎﹐ 吧﹐ 喽 changed the meaning of each sentence and what the sentence's meaning implies due to each particle?

It would be great to get some feedback on these somewhat confusing particles.

Thanks

 

[Sylvia_scj]

他来了。(just expresses the fact that he has come here.)
他来了吧。(This is a question with "吧", we should put '?' at the end of the sentence：他来了吧？）
So they are different.

他来了么。（This is also a question, which should be with '?' at the end：他来了么？and it is nearly the same as 他来了吧？but with more doubt. With 他来了么？，you don't know if he has come. but with 他来了吧？，you are pretty sure that he has come; you just want to confirm it with the person whom you ask the question.)

他来了吗？has the same meaning with 他来了么？which means '吗' and '么' are the same except the different pronunciations. ）

他来吧。(No such expression!)

他来喽。（We could put '!' at the end of this sentence, just like the expression: Oh, He has come! --maybe with a happy tone.）

 

[jsrwang]

他來吧 is possible if you want to say something like 要我來? 不如他來吧。

 

[matty884]

Can 了吧 be used to make an exclamation? Such as

”我不想了吧﹗“

I remember hearing my Chinese teacher use 了吧 in an exclamatory/affirmative statement. Is this true?

 

[Mugi]

他來吧 is not possible on its own in standard Mandarin. You would need to say 他會來吧.
It is also possible in the form of 叫/讓他來吧 or 等他來吧.

他來吧 is possible if you want to say something like 要我來? 不如他來吧。

不如他來吧 looks like a Cantonese/Mandarin hybrid sentence (the 不如 looks like Cantonese usage). The meaning of "how about .../why not ...?" or "it's better to/if ..." for 不如 doesn't exist in standard Mandarin.

Moderator's Note:
Discussion of 不如他來吧 continues in another thread: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1058969