Reduplication of verbs

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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."

Subject + Verb + Verb

Examples

  • 看 看kàn kàn. (You) Take a little look.
  • 试 试shì shì. I'll give it a little try.
  • 听 听tīng tīng. (You) Listen for a bit.
  • 说 说 你 的 想法 。 shuō shuō nǐ de xiǎngfǎ. Talk a little bit about your opinion.
  • 周末 跟 朋友 吃 吃 饭 , 很 好 。 Zhōumò gēn péngyǒu chī chī fàn, hěn hǎo. During the weekend, eat a little bit with friends, it's awesome.
  • 我 喜欢 写 写 东西 。 Wǒ xǐhuan xiě xiě dōngxī. I like to write a little bit.
  • 洗 洗 你 的 臭 袜子 吧 ! Xǐ xǐ nǐ de chòu wàzi bā! Wash your stinky socks a bit!
  • 不要 生气 了 , 笑 笑Bùyào shēngqì le, xiào xiào! Don't get mad, laugh a little!
  • 快点 去 问 问 厕所 在 哪 里 。 Kuàidiǎn qù wèn wèn cèsuǒ zài nǎ lǐ. Hurry and go ask where the bathroom is.
  • 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

  • 给 我 看 一 看Gěi wǒ kàn yī kàn. Let me look a little.
  • 听 一 听tīng yī tīng. (You) Listen a bit.
  • 试 一 试shì yī shì. (You) Go and try it a bit.
  • 请 老师 给 我们 说 一 说Qǐng lǎoshī gěi wǒmen shuō yī shuō. Teacher, please explain it to us a bit.
  • 我 跟 你 练 一 练 中文 吧 。 Wǒ gēn nǐ liàn yī liàn Zhōngwén bā. Practice Chinese a little bit with me.
  • 我们 出去 走 一 走 吧 。 Wǒmen chūqù zǒu yī zǒu bā. Let's go out side to walk for a bit.
  • 别 生气 了 , 笑 一 笑 嘛 ! Bié shēngqì le, xiào yī xiào ma! Don't get mad, laugh a little bit!
  • 周末 我们 想 去 杭州 玩 一 玩Zhōumò wǒmen xiǎng qù Hángzhōu wán yī wán. When it's the weekend, we should think about going to Hangzhou for some fun.
  • 问 一 问 他们 厕所 在 哪里 。 wèn yī wèn tāmen cèsuǒ zài nǎli. (You), 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?
  • 我 们 聊一聊 吧 。 Wǒ men liáoyīliáo bā. Lets talk a bit.

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.

A few 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