生怕 shēngpà to fear
to fear; afraid; extremely nervous; for fear that; to avoid; so as not to
How to remember 生怕: 生 life + 怕 fear = to fear.
Characters
How it is used
- To be anxious that (something bad might happen) - 他生怕迟到 (tā shēngpà chídào) he was terrified of being late.
- Introduces a feared, undesirable outcome and often motivates a precaution: 生怕吵醒孩子 (afraid of waking the child).
- Stronger and more fretful than plain 怕 (pà); the 生 intensifies it to 'dread lest'. Object is a worry, not a thing.