Verbing briefly with "yixia"

How to use 一下 to express a brief action.

Structure

To express that a verb is carried out briefly or a little bit, you can add 一下 after it. The structure is:

Subject + Verb + 一下 + Object

Examples

• 你 看 一下。Take a quick look.
• 请 你 读 一下。Can you please read it bit.
• 我 听 一下 音乐。I listen to a bit of music.
• 你 尝 一下 这 个 菜。You should have a little taste of this tea.

See also

• Verb reduplication with yi
• Verb reduplication

Sources and further reading

Books

• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (pp. 126) →buy