I'm afraid (that): 恐怕
副词 / adverbs
Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral
恐怕 + clause ｜ Subject + 恐怕 + Verb
恐怕 (kǒngpà) expresses a worried guess: "I'm afraid that, probably (unfortunately)". It's a tactful way to announce bad news.
It goes at the start of the sentence or after the subject: 恐怕来不及了 / 我恐怕来不及了.
With a number it means "probably, around": 恐怕要等两个小时 (we'll probably have to wait two hours).
Careful: 恐怕 isn't "to be afraid of" something (害怕): ✗ 我恐怕狗 → ✓ 我怕狗 / 我害怕狗。
Examples
路上堵车，恐怕我们要迟到了。
Lù shang dǔchē, kǒngpà wǒmen yào chídào le.There's traffic: I'm afraid we're going to be late.
这么晚了，恐怕没有地铁了。
Zhème wǎn le, kǒngpà méiyǒu dìtiě le.It's so late, I'm afraid there's no more subway.
恐怕要等一个多小时。
Kǒngpà yào děng yí ge duō xiǎoshí.We'll probably have to wait over an hour.
Common mistakes
✗ 我恐怕坐飞机。 (for "I'm scared of flying") → ✓ 我害怕坐飞机。
恐怕 announces a likely bad outcome; for a likely good one, use 可能 or 大概.