Expressing "a full" with "zuzu"

Chinese-grammar-wiki-足足.jpg

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