恐怕: I'm afraid, probably
副词 / adverbs
Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral
恐怕 + sentence | S + 恐怕 + V
恐怕 gives an estimate, often an unwelcome one: "I'm afraid", "probably". It softens bad news, just like English *I'm afraid…*.
It goes at the start of the sentence or before the verb. It isn't the verb "to fear" (怕、害怕): 恐怕 is a modal adverb.
Examples
恐怕我今天不能按时完成了。
Kǒngpà wǒ jīntiān bù néng ànshí wánchéng le.I'm afraid I can't finish on time today.
路上堵车，他恐怕要迟到了。
Lù shang dǔ chē, tā kǒngpà yào chídào le.With the traffic jams, he'll probably be late.
这件事恐怕没那么简单。
Zhè jiàn shì kǒngpà méi nàme jiǎndān.I'm afraid this isn't that simple.
Common mistakes
✗ 我恐怕狗。("I'm scared of dogs") → ✓ 我怕狗 / 我害怕狗。
✗ Using 恐怕 for good news sounds odd: ✗ 恐怕你中奖了。