岂 / 岂不是: wouldn't it be…?
特殊句型 / special sentence patterns
Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral
岂 + V/Adj ？ | 这样岂不是 + consequence ？
岂 is a classical interrogative adverb forming rhetorical questions: 岂能 (how could one), 岂敢 (how would I dare), 岂有此理 (that's outrageous!).
岂不是 ("wouldn't it be…?") exposes an absurd or obvious consequence: 这样做岂不是浪费时间？ = "Wouldn't that be a waste of time?". The spoken equivalent is 那不是…吗？.
Examples
如果人人都只考虑自己，社会岂不是乱了套？
Rúguǒ rénrén dōu zhǐ kǎolǜ zìjǐ, shèhuì qǐ bú shì luàn le tào?If everyone only thought of themselves, wouldn't society fall into chaos?
做人岂能只看眼前的利益？
Zuò rén qǐ néng zhǐ kàn yǎnqián de lìyì?How can one only look at immediate interests in life?
你现在放弃，以前的努力岂不是白费了？
Nǐ xiànzài fàngqì, yǐqián de nǔlì qǐ bú shì báifèi le?If you give up now, wouldn't all your past effort be wasted?
Common mistakes
✗ Answering 岂不是… as a real question.
✗ 岂 in casual speech sounds pedantic → ✓ 那不是…吗？/ 怎么能…？