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

• 又 来了 ！Here comes it again!
• 宝宝 又 哭 了。The baby is crying again.
• 你 又 写 错 了。You wrote it wrong again.
• 他 又 喝 醉 了？He got drunk again?
• 你们 又 忘 了 我 的 生日。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 是 (shì), 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/可以/应该 + Verb Phrase (+ 了)

又 + 是 + Noun

Examples

• 我 又 要 迟到 了。I'm going to be late again.
• 这 个 周末又 要 加班 了。This weekend we 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 要 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

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

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