Reduplication of verbs

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

• 你 看 看 。(You) Take a little look.
• 我 试 试 。I'll give it a little try.
• 你 听 听 。(You) Listen for a bit.
• 你 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.
• 你 听 一 听 。(You) Listen a bit.
• 去 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.
• 你 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

• Softening speech with "ba"

Sources and further reading

Books

• New Practical Chinese Reader 2 (新实用汉语课本2) (p. 18) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed) (p. 85) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 2 (pp. 227-8) →buy
• Contemporary Chinese 1 (当代中文1) (p. 125) →buy
• Practicing HSK Grammar (语法精讲精炼) (pp. 152-160) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 4 (新实用汉语课本4) (p. 121-2) →buy