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In the northeastern dialect, 呗 is sometimes added to the end of a sentence. Although I use it often as well, I don't really know how to explain why it is used and what nuance does it carry.

My first thought was that it is used to state something obvious, like in this example (assume A has never seen a TV):

A: 那是啥呀? (pointing to a TV) What is that?

B: 电视呗。 A TV (of course).

But then I thought I was wrong because when you ask for favours you can also use 呗, like this:

你帮我把这个整完呗。 Help me finish this.

And I found nothing "obvious" in that sentence.

so I think it is not always to state something obvious. What nuance does it carry exactly? Or in other words, how can I explain this to a foreigner?

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  • 1
    cf."实用现代汉语语法",语气助词,九、呗:"呗"用于陈述句末,常常表示"道理简单","无须多说"的语气。与"嘛"相比,"嘛"语气郑重,"呗"包含"不屑一说"的意思,说话者用"呗"时多不太满意。用"呗"也不多客气、礼貌,句末语调较高。例如:(1)这回考得不好没关系,以后努力呗!(2)你怎么来的?---走来的呗,这儿又没车。(3)你要去就去呗,跟我有什么关系!
    – user6065
    Jan 6, 2017 at 11:22
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    cf。"汉语800虚词用法词典"呗(助)bei1。"呗"为口语词,用在句末,表示事实清楚,道理简单明白,不必多说,也有没关系,不在乎的语气。(1)A:我还没去过哪儿呢。B:那就去一次呗。(2)A:我们怎么去呢?B:坐车呗。(3)A:谁说要把课文背下来?B:我们老师呗。(4)A:课文我老记不住。B:记不住,就多读几遍呗。(5)A:你干什么呢?B:瞎忙呗。(6)A:她来以后住哪儿呢?B:就住我们宿舍呗。(7)A:她好像不太愿意。B:不愿意就不愿意呗,有什么关系。(8)A:我这次没考好。B:没关系,下次考好就得了呗。 2。表示勉强同意或勉强让步的语气. (1)A:我想看看你的照片。B:那就看看呗。(2)A:他也想跟我们一起去。B:那就去呗。(3)A:你看这件衣服我穿是不是有点儿肥?B:肥就肥点儿呗,能穿就行,(4)A:这个是不是有点儿贵?B:贵就贵点儿呗,就这还不好买呢。
    – user6065
    Jan 6, 2017 at 17:08

4 Answers 4

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From 汉语大词典

呗 II  
bei  
˙ㄅㄟ

1. 助词。表示事实或道理明显,易于了解。  
▶ 何永鳌《火焰山上四十天》:「有什么奇怪的,一块红石头呗。」

2. 助词。表示勉强同意或无所谓的语气。  
▶ 周立波《暴风骤雨》第一部一:「他想,不明白就不明白吧,反正他们会给他车钱,这就得了呗。」  
▶ 草明《乘风破浪》第四章:「他闷闷不乐,低着头说:‘挺好呗。’」

So, the 呗 in your first example is the first meaning above.

But I think in the second one, 呗 may mean 吧.
你帮我把这个整完吧。

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Using 吧 or 呗 at the end of a sentence tells the listener that the entire tone of the preceding sentence is suggestive.

If you say: 你吃饭。it comes across like “You, eat food.” If you say:你吃饭吧。it comes across like “how about you eat some food?”

To me, “呗” indicates a slightly more playful/personal tone than “吧” does.

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And I found nothing "obvious" in that sentence.

I don't think 呗 means the logic is obvious to the listener or observers of the conversation, instead, 呗 merely signifies that it is obvious to the speaker him/herself. This also explains the first example (电视呗) - A shouldn't have to ask the question at all if it was obvious to A. B's answer ended with 呗 to express that it's obvious to B.

你帮我把这个整完呗

I would interpret it as "Help me finish this as it's obvious (to me) that you should." Of course this would either confuse or upset the listener if he/she feels otherwise.

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As a native speaker, “呗” is widely used in the north of China by people having the main two meanings:

  1. To express something that is obvious, objective. Here '呗' can be removed.

E.g: 他是谁?小王呗。(It's XiaoWang).


  1. To express something with some kind of emotion (scrom, inpatient, ordering,happy):

E.g:

A: What's the answer to 1+1?

B:2呗(=It's no doubts equal to 2)

===

A: 今天我要去菜市场一次买菜。

B: 顺便给我买一斤鱼呗。(please buy me 500 grams of fish, with an ordering mood but not in force).

===

A: 今天我发工资,我请客!

B:太好了,那就走呗!(Let's immediately go to the restaurant...ect, a very happy, exciting mood)

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