Expressing "again" in the past with "you"

Whenever you want to express something like "you did it again!" in Chinese, you generally want to use 又 (yòu).

又 when something happened more than once in the past

Structure

Normally, 又 is used to express an action that has already happened again for (at least) the second time. It doesn't have to be in quick succession; it happened before, and now it's happened again.

又＋Verb＋了

Examples

• 又 来了 ！Yòu lái le!Here comes it again!
• 宝宝 又 哭 了。Bǎobao yòu kū le.The baby is crying again.
• 你 又 写 错 了。Nǐ yòu xiě cuò le.You wrote it wrong again.
• 他 又 喝 醉 了？Tā yòu hē zuì le?He got drunk again?
• 你们 又 忘 了 我 的 生日。Nǐmen yòu wàng le wǒ de shēngrì.You all forgot my birthday again.

又 when something is about to occur

Structure

When it becomes clear that something is about to happen again, you can also use 又. It's almost as if it has already happened in your mind. In these cases, it's quite common for 又 to be immediately followed by 要 (yào), 可以 (kěyǐ), 应该(yīnggāi), 能 (néng), or 会 (huì), and you'll notice that there's often a 了, indicating that something is about to happen.

又 + 要 / 会 / 能 / 应该 + Verb Phrase ( + 了)

Examples

• 我 又 要 迟到 了。Wǒ yòu yào chídào le.I'm going to be late again.
• 这 个 周末又 要 加班 了。Zhège zhōumò yòu yào jiābān le.This weekend we need to work overtime again.
• 又该 我 请客 了？Yòu gāi wǒ qǐngkè le?It's my turn to treat again?
• 如果 你 告诉 妈妈，她 又 会 说 "不可以"。Rúguǒ nǐ gàosu māma, tā yòu huì shuō "bù kěyǐ".If you tell mom, she will say "you can't" again.
• 又 要 过年 了，我们 又 能 拿 压岁钱 了！Yòu yào guònián le, wǒmen yòu néng ná yāsuìqián le!It's the new year again.We can get our new year money again!

又 for something that happened again and again

Structure

In the pattern below, 又, together with a repeating verb, indicates that the speaker did something repeatedly (not just twice) in the past. Here, 又 represents recurring actions that occur repeatedly. This one is definitely the most advanced usage of 又 here, and you're not going to use it nearly as much as the others.

Verb + 了 + 又 + Verb，Subj. 还是 / 就是 ……

Note that "还是" or "就是" is usually used after this pattern to emphasize that "nothing changed".

Examples

• 这 个 人 我 看 了又 看 ，还是 觉得 我 不 认识 他。Zhège rén wǒ kàn le yòu kàn, háishì juéde wǒ bù rènshi tā. I looked at him again and again, but I still think I don't know him.
• 我 想 了又 想，还是 觉得 不 能 这样 做 。Wǒ xiǎng le yòu xiǎng, háishì juéde bù néng zhèyàng zuò. I thought it over again and again, I think I can't do it like this.
• 我 尝 了 又 尝，还是 觉得 这 些 菜 坏 了。Wǒ cháng le yòu cháng, háishì juéde zhè xiē cài huài le.I tasted again and again, I still think those food has gone bad.
• 我们 问 了 又 问，她 就是 不 说。Wǒmen wèn le yòu wèn, tā jiùshì bù shuō.We asked again and again, but she wouldn't say it.
• 他 试 了 又 试，就是 打 不 开 门。Tā shì le yòu shì, jiùshì dǎ bù kāi mén.He tried again and again, but he still couldn't open the door.

See also

• Again in the past with "you"
• Emphasizing negation with "you"
• Comparing "zai" and "you"
• "Both A and B" with "you"
• "Both… and…" with "ji...you"

Sources and further reading

Books

• 现代汉语八百词（增订本） (p. 633) →buy
• 现代汉语虚词例释 (p. 588)→buy

Dictionaries

• 现代汉语词典（第5版） (p. 1656) →buy