恐怕

Chinese

		afraid; frightened; to fear	to be afraid; to fear
trad. (恐怕)		恐	怕
simp. ^#(恐怕)		恐	怕

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): kǒngpà

(Zhuyin): ㄎㄨㄥˇ ㄆㄚˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): hung² paa³
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): khióng-phàⁿ

(Teochew, Peng'im): kiong² pan³
Wu (Northern, Wugniu): ¹khon-pho; ⁵khon-pho / ¹khon₃-pho₅

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: kǒngpà
  - Zhuyin: ㄎㄨㄥˇ ㄆㄚˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: kǒngpà
  - Wade–Giles: kʻung³-pʻa⁴
  - Yale: kǔng-pà
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: koongpah
  - Palladius: кунпа (kunpa)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰʊŋ²¹⁴⁻²¹ pʰä⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: hung² paa³
  - Yale: húng pa
  - Cantonese Pinyin: hung² paa³
  - Guangdong Romanization: hung² pa³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /hʊŋ³⁵ pʰaː³³/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khióng-phàⁿ
  - Tâi-lô: khióng-phànn
  - Phofsit Daibuun: qiofngphvax
  - Sinological IPA (Xiamen): /kʰiɔŋ⁵³⁻⁴⁴ pʰã²¹/
  - Sinological IPA (Quanzhou): /kʰiɔŋ⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ pʰã⁴¹/
  - Sinological IPA (Zhangzhou): /kʰiɔŋ⁵³⁻⁴⁴ pʰã²¹/
  - Sinological IPA (Taipei): /kʰiɔŋ⁵³⁻⁴⁴ pʰã¹¹/
  - Sinological IPA (Kaohsiung): /kʰiɔŋ⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ pʰã²¹/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: kiong² pan³
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: khióng phàⁿ
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰioŋ⁵²⁻³⁵ pʰã²¹³/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ¹khon-pho; ⁵khon-pho
  - MiniDict: khon^平 pho; khon^去 pho
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹khon-pho; ²khon-pho
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /kʰoŋ⁵⁵ pʰo²¹/, /kʰoŋ³³ pʰo⁴⁴/
- (Northern: Suzhou)
  - Wugniu: ¹khon₃-pho₅
  - MiniDict: khon^上 pho^去
  - Sinological IPA (Suzhou): /kʰoŋ⁴⁴ pʰo/

Verb

恐怕

to worry; to feel anxious; to fear
兩天要準備八門的考試，她恐怕吃不消。 [MSC, trad.]
两天要准备八门的考试，她恐怕吃不消。 [MSC, simp.]
Liǎng tiān yào zhǔnbèi bā mén de kǎoshì, tā kǒngpà chībùxiāo. [Pinyin]
She feared she wouldn't be able to handle preparing for eight exams in two days.

Synonyms

edit

孜煎 (zījiān) (literary)
干掛 (Puxian Min)
急 (jí)
怕
急眼 (jíyǎn) (colloquial)
患 (huàn) (literary, or in compounds)
愁 (chóu)
憂心 / 忧心 (yōuxīn)
憂思 / 忧思 (yōusī)
憂慮 / 忧虑 (yōulǜ)
懸心 / 悬心 (xuánxīn)
掛心 / 挂心 (guàxīn)
掛礙 / 挂碍 (guà'ài)
提心 (tíxīn)
揪心 (jiūxīn)
擔心 / 担心 (dānxīn)
擔憂 / 担忧 (dānyōu)
燒心 / 烧心 (shāoxīn) (regional or dated)
犯愁 (fànchóu)
疑慮 / 疑虑 (yílǜ)
發急 / 发急 (fājí)
發愁 / 发愁 (fāchóu)
發極 / 发极 (⁷faq ⁸jiq) (Wu)
著急 / 着急 (zháojí)
起急 (qǐjí) (colloquial)
顧慮 / 顾虑 (gùlǜ)

Adverb

恐怕

I'm afraid that; unfortunately; probably; regretfully; fearfully; perhaps; maybe
恐怕搬家是萬萬不行的。 [MSC, trad.]
恐怕搬家是万万不行的。 [MSC, simp.]
Kǒngpà bānjiā shì wànwàn bùxíng de. [Pinyin]
Unfortunately, moving is out of the question.

Synonyms

edit

只怕 (zhǐpà)
可怕 (kěpà) (literary)
唯恐 (wéikǒng)
害怕 (hàipà) (dialectal)
尚怕 (²zan₆-pho₅) (Suzhounese)
尚期 (Suzhounese, dated)
張怕 / 张怕 (Suzhounese)
怕不 (pàbù) (literary or dialectal)
恐防 (kong³ fang²) (Sichuanese)
敢畏 (gan² uin³) (Teochew)
盡驚 / 尽惊 (Hokkien)
驚了 / 惊了 (Min Nan)

Dialectal synonyms of 恐怕 (“I'm afraid that; perhaps”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		恐怕, 怕
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	恐怕, 怕
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	恐怕, 怕
Central Plains Mandarin	Xi'an	恐怕, 害怕, 怕
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	耽怕, 害怕, 怕
Southwestern Mandarin	Wuhan	只怕, 怕
Jianghuai Mandarin	Yangzhou	恐怕, 怕
Jianghuai Mandarin	Hefei	恐怕, 怕
Cantonese	Guangzhou	怕
Cantonese	Hong Kong	怕, 怕且, 睇怕
Gan	Nanchang	只怕
Hakka	Meixian	驚怕
Jin	Taiyuan	恐怕, 怕
Northern Min	Jian'ou	恐怕
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	驚其
Southern Min	Xiamen	恐驚, 驚, 驚了
	Quanzhou	驚
	Zhangzhou	恐驚, 驚
	Tainan	恐驚, 恐驚仔
	Chaozhou	驚畏, 畏得
	Jieyang	驚畏, 畏得
Wu	Suzhou	恐怕, 觸爬
Wu	Wenzhou	恐怕
Xiang	Changsha	恐怕, 怕莫, 只怕
Xiang	Shuangfeng	恐怕