Difference between revisions of "Reduplication of verbs"

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* 别 生气 了, <em>笑 一 笑</em>!<span class="pinyin">Bié shēngqì le, <em>xiào yī xiào</em> ma!</span> <span class="trans">Don't get mad, smile a little bit! </span>
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* 别 生气 了,<em>笑 一 笑</em>!<span class="pinyin">Bié shēngqì le, <em>xiào yī xiào</em>! </span> <span class="trans">Don't get mad, smile a little bit! </span>
* 你 可以 <em>问 一 问</em> 他们 厕所 在 哪里。<span class="pinyin">Nǐ kěyǐ <em>wèn yī wèn</em> tāmen cèsuǒ zài nǎlǐ. </span> <span class="trans">You can ask them where the bathroom is. </span>
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* 你 <em>问 一 问</em> 他们 厕所 在 哪里。<span class="pinyin">Nǐ <em>wèn yī wèn</em> tāmen cèsuǒ zài nǎlǐ. </span> <span class="trans">You go and ask them where the bathroom is. </span>
 
* 我 可以 <em>用 一 用</em> 你 的 电脑 吗?<span class="pinyin">Wǒ kěyǐ <em>yòng yī yòng</em> nǐ de diànnǎo ma? </span> <span class="trans"> Can I use your computer for a little bit? </span>
 
* 我 可以 <em>用 一 用</em> 你 的 电脑 吗?<span class="pinyin">Wǒ kěyǐ <em>yòng yī yòng</em> nǐ de diànnǎo ma? </span> <span class="trans"> Can I use your computer for a little bit? </span>
 
* 你 现在 有时间 吗?我们 <em>聊一聊</em> 吧。<span class="pinyin">Nǐ xiànzài yǒu shíjiān ma? Wǒmen <em>liáo yī liáo</em> ba. </span> <span class="trans">Do you have a second? Lets talk a bit. </span>
 
* 你 现在 有时间 吗?我们 <em>聊一聊</em> 吧。<span class="pinyin">Nǐ xiànzài yǒu shíjiān ma? Wǒmen <em>liáo yī liáo</em> ba. </span> <span class="trans">Do you have a second? Lets talk a bit. </span>
* 你 想 <em>尝 一 尝</em> 我 做 的 菜 吗?<span class="pinyin">Nǐ xiǎng <em>cháng yī cháng</em> wǒ zuò de cài ma? </span> <span class="trans">Do you want to try the food that I cooked? </span>
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* 你 想 <em>尝 一 尝</em> 我 做 的 菜 吗?<span class="pinyin">Nǐ xiǎng <em>cháng yī cháng</em> wǒ zuò de cài ma? </span> <span class="trans">Do you want to taste the food that I cooked? </span>
  
 
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Revision as of 08:55, 3 December 2015

One of the fun things about Chinese is that when speaking, you can repeat certain things to express "a little bit." This is 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."

Subj. + Verb + Verb

Examples

  • 看 看kàn kàn. (You) Take a little look.
  • 试 试shì shì. I'll give it a little try.
  • 说 说 你 的 想法。Shuō shuō nǐ de xiǎngfǎ. Talk a little bit about your opinion.
  • 出去 玩 玩 吧!Chūqù wán wán ba! Go out and have fun!
  • 我 想 出去 走 走Wǒ xiǎng chūqù zǒu zǒu. 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

  • 别 生气 了,笑 一 笑Bié shēngqì le, xiào yī xiào! Don't get mad, smile a little bit!
  • 你 去 问 一 问 他们 厕所 在 哪里。Nǐ qù wèn yī wèn tāmen cèsuǒ zài nǎlǐ. You go and ask them where the bathroom is.
  • 我 可以 用 一 用 你 的 电脑 吗?Wǒ kěyǐ yòng yī yòng nǐ de diànnǎo ma? Can I use your computer for a little bit?
  • 你 现在 有时间 吗?我们 聊一聊 吧。Nǐ xiànzài yǒu shíjiān ma? Wǒmen liáo yī liáo ba. Do you have a second? Lets talk a bit.
  • 你 想 尝 一 尝 我 做 的 菜 吗?Nǐ xiǎng cháng yī cháng wǒ zuò de cài ma? Do you want to taste the food that I cooked?

Using this kind of structure lightens the mood and seriousness of the question. It also adds variety to sentence structure. Because these phrases are used colloquially, there is not set rule to which verbs this can be applied to. Obviously, there are some verbs that are often reduplicated and some verbs that sound weird when reduplicated. With practice, you will learn which ones are often used.

ABAB Reduplication with Two-Syllable Verbs

In the examples below, all verbs are only one syllable. Those verbs get reduplicated a lot, so those examples are quite useful. Occasionally, though, two-syllable verbs get reduplicated as well. When this happens, it's important to use the "ABAB" pattern for verbs, and not the "AABB" pattern you use for adjectives.

Examples

  • 考虑 考虑 kǎolǜ kǎolǜ think it over
  • 讨论 讨论 tǎolùn tǎolùn discuss it
  • 商量 商量 shāngliang shāngliang talk it over
  • 打听 打听 dǎting dǎting inquire about it

See also

Sources and further reading

Books