Reduplication of verbs

Revision as of 03:33, 14 July 2014 by Yucui (talk | contribs)

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".

Reduplication with VV pattern

Structure

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

Subject + Verb + Verb

Examples

  • 看 看(You) Take a little look.
  • 试 试I'll give it a little try.
  • 听 听(You) Listen for a bit.
  • 说 说 你 的 想法。Talk a little bit about your opinion.
  • 周末 跟 朋友 吃 吃 饭,很 好。During the weekend, eat a little bit with friends, it's awesome.
  • 我 喜欢 写 写 东西。When I have nothing to do, I like to write a little bit.
  • 洗 洗 你 的 臭 袜子 吧!Wash your stinky socks a bit!
  • 不要 生气 了,笑 笑You don't need to get mad, laugh a little!
  • 快点 去 问 问 厕所 在 哪 里。Hurry and go ask a while where the bathroom is.
  • 我 想 出去 走 走I want to go out and walk for a bit.


Reduplication with "一"

Structure

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

Verb + 一 + Verb

Examples

  • 给 我 看 一 看Let me look a little.
  • 听 一 听(You) Listen a bit.
  • 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 我们 想 去 杭州 玩 一 玩When it's the weekend, we should think about going to Hangzhou for some fun.
  • 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?


See also

Sources and further reading

Books