只好 (have no choice but to)
No other option
- When circumstances force your hand, use to have no other option but…只好.
- not have / haven't没有ticket票，to have no other option but…只好to return home回家 = "there were no tickets, so I had to go home."
- to have no other option but…只好 = "have no choice but to / can only".
to have no other option but…只好 + Verb Phrase
- to have no other option but…只好 = the only thing left to do.
there's no没有ticket票，have to只好go home回家。
- not have / haven't没有ticket票，to have no other option but…只好to return home回家 = "there were no tickets, so we had to go home."
Practice
No tickets, so we had to go home: 没有票，____ 回家。
只好 + VP = have no choice but to: 没有票,只好回家.
Practice
Build: “No tickets, so we had to go home.”
Reason，只好 + VP: 没有票 + 只好 + 回家.
Forced, not chosen
- to have no other option but…只好 signals a reluctant, last-resort action.
Explore
Correct or broken?
只好 introduces the reluctant fallback — no better option remained.
Practice
只好 signals an action that is…
只好 = the only option left — reluctant, forced by circumstances.
Practice
只好 means you happily chose this from many options.
Opposite — 只好 = no other choice, a last resort.
Recap
Key idea
- to have no other option but…只好 + Verb Phrase — "have no choice but to / can only"
- not have / haven't没有ticket票，to have no other option but…只好to return home回家
- Marks a forced, last-resort action
Read the full reference: HSK 4 grammar — Adverbs.