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HSK 2.0 Nivel 6+ HSK 3.0 Nivel 7–9+ 6 min de lectura

巴不得 and 恨不得 for “Can’t Wait To” and “Wish I Could”

Use 巴不得 for something you eagerly hope will happen and 恨不得 for an urgent, often exaggerated wish you can’t really carry out.

Patrón

巴不得／恨不得 + verb phrase or clause

巴不得 = “would love it if …, can’t wait for …”; 恨不得 = “wish I could … (right now)”, usually for something impossible or exaggerated.

她太想家了，恨不得马上飞回去。

When to use 巴不得 and 恨不得 for “Can’t Wait To” and “Wish I Could”

巴不得 and 恨不得 both express a very strong wish and are followed by a verb phrase or a whole clause. 巴不得 means “would love it if …, can’t wait for …” and is used for things that could really happen, including things that depend on other people (巴不得明天就放假). 恨不得 means “wish I could …” and usually describes an urgent wish the speaker can’t actually carry out, often with exaggeration (恨不得马上飞回去, 恨不得一天有四十八个小时). Both are colloquial and written with neutral 不 (bu).

我巴不得明天就放假。

I wish the holidays started tomorrow.

作业太多了，我恨不得一天有四十八个小时。

There’s so much homework that I wish a day had forty-eight hours.

弟弟巴不得下雨，这样就不用上体育课了。

My little brother is hoping it rains so he won’t have PE class.

他巴不得早点儿毕业，开始工作。

He can’t wait to graduate early and start working.

Errores frecuentes

  • Use 恨不得 for wishes that can’t really be carried out; for a real event you hope for, 巴不得 is more natural.
  • Only 巴不得 works as a short reply: 我巴不得呢！, not 我恨不得呢！
  • Don’t confuse them with 舍不得 “can’t bear to” or 怪不得 “no wonder”.

Ejercicio dirigido

Practica exactamente este patrón antes de seguir.

作业太多了，我 一天有四十八个小时

There’s so much homework that I wish a day had forty-eight hours
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