Verb reduplication with "yi"

Reduplication of certain verbs and adding an 一 (yī) can change the degree of something to "a little bit".

Structure

One way to reduplicate verbs is to insert 一 (yī), in the following structure:

Verb + 一 + Verb

As with simple verb reduplication, this creates a sense that the verb is done briefly or "a little bit".

Examples

• 给 我 看 一 看 。Let me look a little.
• 你 听 一 听 。(You) Listen a bit.
• 去 试 一 试 。(You) Go and try it a bit.
• 请 老师 给 我们 说一说。Teacher, please explain it to us a little.
• 我 跟 你 练 一 练 中文 吧。Practice Chinese a little bit with me.
• 我们 出去走 一 走 吧。Let's go out side to walk for a bit.
• 别 生气 了，笑 一 笑 嘛！Don't get mad, laugh a little bit!
• 周末 的 时候 我们 想 去 杭州 玩 一 玩 。When it's the weekend, we should think about going to Hangzhou for some fun.
• 你 问 一 问 他们 厕所 在 哪里。(You), ask them a bit where the bathroom is.
• 我 可以 用 一 用 你 的 电脑 吗？Can I use your computer for a little bit?

Note: 所有的这个结构都可以变成“Verb + Verb”格式，比如“看看，听听，试试，说说，练练，走走，笑笑，玩玩，问问，用用”。

See also

• Verb reduplication
• Verbing briefly

Sources and Further Reading

Books

• New Practical Chinese Reader 2 (新实用汉语课本2) (pp. 18) →buy
• Contemporary Chinese 1 (当代中文1) (pp. 125) →buy
• Practicing HSK Grammar (语法精讲精炼) (pp. 152-160) →buy

HSK3