Reduplication of verbs

One of the fun things about Chinese is that you can repeat certain things to express "a little bit", similar to how in some Latin languages you can add a bit to the end of a word to make it "cute".

Structure

In Chinese, verbs can be reduplicated to indicate that they happen briefly or "a little bit".

Subject + Verb + Verb

Examples

• 你 看看。(You) Take a little look.
• 我 试试。I'll give it a little try.
• 你 听听。(You) Listen for a bit.

See also

• Verb reduplication with yi
• Softening speech with "ba"

Sources and further reading

Books

• New Practical Chinese Reader 2 (新实用汉语课本2) (pp. 18) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed) (pp. 85) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 2 (pp. 227-8) →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
• New Practical Chinese Reader 4 (新实用汉语课本4) (p. 121-2) →buy