Expressing "a full" with "zuzu"

Sometimes in English, we may want to emphasize how big, small, long, etc. something is perceived to be. We have all heard expressions like "he was a full 300 pounds," or "he was all of seven feet tall." The "a full" and "all of" in these sentences have an equivalent expression in Chinese: 足足 (zúzú).

Structure

You can put 足足 either in front or after the verb. Remember that 足足 adds emphasis to what you are saying, so you should always use it with a number. Some more commonly used verbs are 有 and 等.

足足 + Verb

Verb + 足足

Examples

• 姚明 身高 足足 有 2.26米。
• 昨天 我的 约会 不 太 顺利，她 让 我 等 了 足足 两 个 小时。
• 怪不得 他 汉语 说 得 那么 好，他 在 中国 住 了 足足 十 年 的 时间！

Sources and further reading

Books

HSK6