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How to say “have to” in Chinese with 不得不 (bùdébù)

Subj. + 不得不 (bùdébù) + Verb Phrase

不得不 (bù dé bù) — have to, forced to

HSK 4Adverbs

Rule structure

不得不 (bùdébù) expresses strong necessity with no alternative: "to have no choice but to, cannot but".

Examples

天气太差，我们不得不取消航班。

Tiānqì tài chà, wǒmen bùdébù qǔxiāo hángbān.

The weather is too bad, we had to cancel the flight.

他不得不学习。

Tā bùdébù xuéxí.

He has to study.

我们不得不等他。

Wǒmen bùdébù děng tā.

We have to wait for him.

Practice

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Characters

Words from this rule

不得不

bù dé bù

To have to, to be forced to

天气

tiānqì

Weather

太

tài

Too, excessively

差

chà

To lack, to be inferior

我们

wǒmen

We, us

取消

qǔ xiāo

To cancel; to call off

航班

hángbān

Flight

他

tā

He

学习

xuéxí

To study, to learn, study

等

děng

To wait

我

wǒ

I, me

去

qù

To go

Frequently asked questions

How do you say “have to, forced to” in Chinese with 不得不?

Use the structure: Subj. + 不得不 (bùdébù) + Verb Phrase. For example: 天气太差，我们不得不取消航班。 — “The weather is too bad, we had to cancel the flight”.

What is an example sentence with this grammar rule?

天气太差，我们不得不取消航班。 — “The weather is too bad, we had to cancel the flight”.

Which HSK level includes this grammar rule?

This grammar rule is part of HSK 4.

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More HSK 4 grammar rules

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正好 — just in time, coincidence

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也 都 — also all

Subj. + 也 (yě) + 都 (dōu) + Verb

究竟 — in the end

究竟 (jiūjìng) + Question word / Question

恐怕 — I'm afraid that...

恐怕 (kǒngpà) + Clause

从来 — never in negative contexts

从来 (cónglái) + 都 (dōu)/也 (yě) + 不 (bù)/没 (méi) + Verb / Adj.

竟然 — unexpectedly

Subj. + 竟然 (jìngrán) + Verb / Adj.