Difference between revisions of "Expressing "more and more" with "yuelaiyue""

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*<em>越</em> <em>越</em> 不耐烦。<span class="trans">Oh, the busier I am, the more impatient I am.</span>
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*挑战<em>越</em> 大,我<em>越</em> 兴奋。<span class="trans">The bigger the challenge is, the more excited I am.</span>
*我 觉得 窗子 <em>越</em> 大 <em>越</em> 好看。<span class="trans">I think that the bigger the window, the better it looks.</span>
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*我 觉得 窗子 <em>越</em> 大,光线<em>越</em> 好。<span class="trans">I think that the bigger the window is, the better the natural light is.</span>
*<em>越</em> <em>越</em> 好。<span class="trans">The more money, the better.</span>
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*工作 <em>越</em> 多有趣<em>越</em> 好。<span class="trans">The more interesting the job is, the better.</span>
*<em>越</em> 多,这 个 甜品 <em>越</em> 不 好 吃。<span class="trans">The more sugar in this dessert, the worse it tastes.</span>
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*这 个 菜 <em>越</em> <em>越</em> 不好吃。<span class="trans">The more sweet the dish is, the worse it tastes.</span>
  
 
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Revision as of 02:19, 26 August 2013

"越 ... 越..." (yuè... yuè...) is used frequently in Chinese to express that some quality or state is increasing with time, or in tune with another factor. There are two forms of this pattern, the "simple" one (using 来), and the more complex one (which uses two different adjectives/verbs).

Basic Structure with 越来越

This structure expresses that something is becoming more and more adjective over time, with the latter adjective changing with the verb. The most common structure is:

Subject + 越来越 + Adjective

Examples

  • 汽油 贵。 Gasoline is getting more and more expensive.
  • 北京 的 空气 质量 差。The air quality of Beijing is getting worse and more worse.
  • 她 的 数学 成绩 好。Her math grade is getting better and better.

Complex Structure with 越 ... 越 ...

This structure can be expanded further by replacing 来 with another verb. This expresses that one change causes another change. To be exact, there are four structures to use. (The examples make it clear how this works.)

Structure 1

Subject + 越 + Adj 1 + 越 + Adj 2

Examples

  • 挑战 大,我 兴奋。The bigger the challenge is, the more excited I am.
  • 我 觉得 窗子 大,光线 好。I think that the bigger the window is, the better the natural light is.
  • 工作 多有趣 好。The more interesting the job is, the better.
  • 这 个 菜 不好吃。The more sweet the dish is, the worse it tastes.

Structure 2

Subject + 越 + Adjective , 越 + Verb

Examples

  • 懒,别人 就 讨厌 你。The lazier you are, the more other people will hate you.
  • 生气,就 喜欢 吃 东西。The angrier I am, the more I like to eat.

Structure 3

Subject + 越 + Verb , 越 + Verb

Examples

  • 学习 中文, 觉得 中文 很 难。The more I study Chinese, the more difficult I think it is.
  • 批评 他,他 不 好 好 做。The more he gets criticized, the worse he works.

Structure 4

Subject + 越 + Verb , 越 + Adjective

Examples

  • 喝 碳酸饮料 胖。The more he drinks soda, the fatter he gets.
  • 生气。The more she talks, the angrier she gets.

Complex Structure with Complement

You can also use "越...越..." with a complement. In this case, "越" has to follow the "得". This construction usually uses "State complements" and "Result complements".

Subject + Verb 得 +越..., (Verb 得)越 ...

Examples

  • 你 买 得 便宜。The more you buy, the cheaper it gets.
  • 你 说 得 慢,可能 我们 听 得 清楚。The slower you speak, the more we'll probably be able to hear clearly.
  • 碳水化合物 吃 得 容易 胖。The more carbs you eat, the easier it will be to get fat.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books