HSK 4 Adverbs
恐怕
I’m afraid that with 恐怕
Structure 恐怕 + (something likely and unwanted)
恐怕 (kǒngpà) introduces a likely and UNWELCOME guess, like English "I’m afraid that…": 恐怕要下雨了 = "I’m afraid it’s going to rain". It blends probability with a touch of concern. It goes before the verb or at the start of the sentence.
Examples
- 恐怕要下雨了。
I’m afraid it’s going to rain.
- 这件事恐怕很难。
I’m afraid this is very hard.
- 我恐怕不能去了。
I’m afraid I won’t be able to go.
Levels are indicative: they follow the standard Chinese Grammar Wiki (AllSet Learning) progression, not an official HSK 3.0 mapping. We never assign levels by eye.