Difference between revisions of "Expressing "more and more" with "yuelaiyue""
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| − | "越 ... 越..." (yuè ... yuè ...) is used frequently in Chinese to express that something is becoming more and more ''[[adjectives|adjective]]'' over time, with the latter adjective changing with the verb. The most common structure is: | + | "越 ... 越..." (yuè... yuè...) is used frequently in Chinese to express that some quality or state is increasing with time, or in tune with another factor. There are two forms of this pattern, the "simple" one (using 来), and the more complex one (which uses two different adjectives/verbs). |
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| + | == Simple: 越来越 + Adjective == | ||
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| + | that something is becoming more and more ''[[adjectives|adjective]]'' over time, with the latter adjective changing with the verb. The most common structure is: | ||
<div class="jiegou"> | <div class="jiegou"> | ||
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</div> | </div> | ||
| − | This structure can be expanded further by replacing 来 with another verb. This expresses that | + | == Complex: 越 + Adjective/Verb + 越 + Adjective/Verb == |
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| + | This structure can be expanded further by replacing 来 with another verb. This expresses that one change causes another change. (The examples make it clear how this works.) | ||
<div class="jiegou"> | <div class="jiegou"> | ||
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<div class="liju"> | <div class="liju"> | ||
| − | *他 <em>越</em> 喝 | + | *他 <em>越</em> 喝 可乐 <em>越</em> 胖。 |
| − | *她 <em>越</em> 说话 <em>越</em> | + | *她 <em>越</em> 说话 <em>越</em> 生气。 |
| − | *啊，我 <em>越</em> 忙 <em>越</em> | + | *啊，我 <em>越</em> 忙 <em>越</em> 不耐烦。 |
</div> | </div> | ||
Revision as of 07:29, 12 September 2011
"越 ... 越..." (yuè... yuè...) is used frequently in Chinese to express that some quality or state is increasing with time, or in tune with another factor. There are two forms of this pattern, the "simple" one (using 来), and the more complex one (which uses two different adjectives/verbs).
Contents
Simple: 越来越 + Adjective
that something is becoming more and more adjective over time, with the latter adjective changing with the verb. The most common structure is:
Subject + 越来 + 越 + Adjective
This expresses that the subject is becoming more and more adjective as time goes on.
Here are some examples:
- 汽油 越 来 越 贵。
- 美国 的 音乐 越 来 越 流行。
- 她 的 数学 成绩 越 来 越 好。
Complex: 越 + Adjective/Verb + 越 + Adjective/Verb
This structure can be expanded further by replacing 来 with another verb. This expresses that one change causes another change. (The examples make it clear how this works.)
Subject + 越 + Verb Phrase + 越 + Adjective
Here are some examples of this structure:
- 他 越 喝 可乐 越 胖。
- 她 越 说话 越 生气。
- 啊，我 越 忙 越 不耐烦。
Sources and further reading
Books
- Common Chinese Patterns 330 (NEEDS AMAZON AFFILIATE LINK)
- Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Reader (NEEDS AMAZON AFFILIATE LINK)
