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

Examples

• 我们 又 学 了 一 遍。We learned it again.
• 我 又 做 错 了 ！I did it wrong again!
• 宝宝 又 哭 了。The baby is crying again.
• 你 又 迟到 了。You came late again.
• 他 又 喝 醉 了， 他 的 胃 怎么 受 得 了？He's drinking beer again. How does his stomach handle it?
• 苹果 十 五 块 钱 一 斤？你 又 被 骗 了！Fifteen kuai per jin for apples? You've been tricked 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 是, 要, 可以, 应该, 能, or 会, and you'll notice that there's often a 了, indicating that something is about to happen.

又 + 要/会/可以/应该 + Verb Phrase (+ 了)

又 + 是 + Noun

Examples

• 明天又是星期一！Tomorrow is Monday again!
• 老板又要找我开会了。The boss pulled me into a meeting again.
• 这个周末又可以不加班了。This weekend we don't need to work overtime again.
• 又该我请客了？Its my turn to treat again?
• 如果你告诉妈妈，妈妈又会生气了。If you tell mom, mom will get mad again.
• 又过年了，我们又长了一岁。It's the new year again, we've aged yet another year.

又 for something that happened again and again

In the pattern below, 又, together with a repeating verb, indicates that the speaker did something repeatedly (not just twice) in the past. 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.

Structure

"又"不但可以表示动作重复出现，还可以表示动作反复出现多次。

Verb + 了 + 又 + Verb

Examples

• 宝宝 出生 了 ， 妈妈 看 了又 看 ，高兴 得 不得了 。The baby was born, mom looked at him again and again, full of happiness./span>
• 这个 词 我 记 了 又记，还是 记 不住 。 I tried to remember this term over and over again, I still can't remember it.
• 这个 方案 改 了 又 改 ，终 于 通过 了 。 This proposal has been altered again and again, finally it has passed.
• 我 想 了又 想，还是 不 能 这样 做 。 I thought it over again and again, we can't do it like this.

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