Reduplication of verbs

Revision as of 08:30, 22 November 2013 by Loganp (talk | contribs) (→‎Examples)

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

  • 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 你的看法。
  • 周末 的 时候 跟 朋友 吃吃 饭,很 好。
  • 没事 的 时候 我 喜欢 写写 东西。
  • 洗洗 你 的 臭 袜子 吧!
  • 不要 生气 了,笑笑
  • 快点 去 问问 厕所 在 哪 里。
  • 我 想 出去 走走

See also

Sources and further reading

Books