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 + 了

Examples

• 又 来了 ！Yòu lái le!Here comes it again!
• 你 又 迟到 了。Nǐ yòu chídào le.You came late again.
• 你 又 写 错 了。Nǐ yòu xiě cuò le.You wrote it wrong again.
• 你们 又 忘 了 我 的 生日。Nǐmen yòu wàng le wǒ de shēngrì.You all forgot my birthday again.
• 宝宝 又 哭 了。Bǎobao yòu kū le.The baby is crying again.
• 他 又 喝 醉 了？Tā yòu hē zuì le?He got drunk again?

Colloquial usage 又来了

"又来了" fits the above pattern, but is also a little tricky because it expresses something that is still ongoing, and has already started as the speaker is speaking. Literally it's say, "here it comes again," but it's more accurate to translate it as "there it is again," or "there [he] goes again." It indicates that the speaker is a bit annoyed that it happened 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), and you'll notice that there's often a 了, indicating that something is about to happen.

又 + 是＋Noun

又 + 要 / 会 / 能 / 应该 + Verb Phrase ( + 了)

Examples

• 明天 又 是 星期 一 ！Míngtiān yòu shì Xīngqīyī!Tomorrow will be Monday AGAIN!
• 我 又 要 迟到 了。Wǒ yòu yào chídào le.I'm going to be late again.
• 这 个 周末又 要 加班 了。Zhège zhōumò yòu yào jiābān le.This weekend we need to work overtime again.
• 又该 我 请客 了？Yòu gāi wǒ qǐngkè le?It's my turn to treat again?
• 又 要 过年 了，我们 又 能 拿 压岁钱 了！Yòu yào guònián le, wǒmen yòu néng ná yāsuìqián le!It's the new year again.We can get our new year money again!

See also

• "Both A and B" with "you"
• Comparing "zai" and "you"
• "Both… and…" with "ji...you"
• Advanced use of "you"
• Emphasizing negation with "you"

Sources and further reading

Books

• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed) (pp. 141-2) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (pp. 157) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 2 (pp. 288) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 3 (新实用汉语课本3) (pp. 202) →buy
• 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

• 现代汉语八百词（增订本） (p. 633) →buy
• 现代汉语虚词例释 (p. 588)→buy
• 现代汉语词典（第5版） (p. 1656) →buy

Websites

• Yale Chinese Usage Dictionary: Using 再 and 又