jiasen Posted April 18, 2008 at 09:21 AM Report Share Posted April 18, 2008 at 09:21 AM Hey everyone, I was just wondering what it meant when, in a sentence, the person repeats the verb such as '逛逛‘，’玩玩‘ and '看看'. My textbook says 'the first verb indicates conditions such as tendency, trend, harmony and cooperation, while the second verb is the main verb'. However I have no idea what they are trying to say here =P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monto Posted April 18, 2008 at 10:41 AM Report Share Posted April 18, 2008 at 10:41 AM My textbook says 'the first verb indicates conditions such as tendency, trend, harmony and cooperation, while the second verb is the main verb'. I can't quite agree to that. As I understand, the repeating makes the verb more vivid or emphasized, and sometimes adds a light mood to the sentence. we can also have 逛一逛, 玩一玩, and 看一看 and so on. Similar thing in English: live a life, dream a dream, ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renzhe Posted April 18, 2008 at 12:45 PM Report Share Posted April 18, 2008 at 12:45 PM It just adds a bit of mood to the sentence, without changing the meaning much. It makes it a bit more casual, both in style (sounds a bit more casual) and in meaning (give something a try, do something a bit). Example: 看 = to watch, to see; 看看 = to have a look Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Addington Posted April 18, 2008 at 03:23 PM Report Share Posted April 18, 2008 at 03:23 PM Kinda like saying "look around" or "play around" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiMaKe Posted April 18, 2008 at 03:30 PM Report Share Posted April 18, 2008 at 03:30 PM Renzhe is correct. The various forms 看一看， 看一下，看看 are all virtually equivalent with the meaning of "give it go/try", an action of short duration, casual mood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monto Posted April 19, 2008 at 04:48 AM Report Share Posted April 19, 2008 at 04:48 AM Do you get any mood of "casual" or "try" in following sentences? 你的错误很严重，需要好好反省反省。 这样的场合下还骂骂咧咧，太不象话了。 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Addington Posted April 19, 2008 at 06:12 AM Report Share Posted April 19, 2008 at 06:12 AM Intensification. Albeit slight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiMaKe Posted April 20, 2008 at 07:47 PM Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 at 07:47 PM To recap, the reduplication of verbs can serve the following functions: 1. indicate an action of short duration (the delimitative aspect) 2. make the speaker's tone less formal/soften the tone 3. indicate things done in a casual or relaxed way， or 4. simply to emphasize the verb. These functions should be distinguished from reduplicated adjectives, reduplicated measure words and reduplicated kinship terms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renzhe Posted April 21, 2008 at 02:21 AM Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 at 02:21 AM Do you get any mood of "casual" or "try" in following sentences? It's an intensification in that case. In my defense, 玩玩 and 看看 always have the casual connotation, not the intensified "play, dammit!!!" An interesting bit about 看看, 看一看, 看一下 and the like was in my chinesepod lesson today. A duplicated verb, when used as an imperative is more direct and strong. 你等等! is much stronger than 等一下 or 等一等. In that case, the first case intensifies the verb (making it an order), and the second two are the casual, do something a bit form. Link: http://chinesepod.com/lessons/a-jizhou-childs-warning/discussion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Addington Posted April 22, 2008 at 11:55 AM Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 at 11:55 AM I lament the loss of my old Chao Yuan Ren grammar. One day, thirty years ago, I made the gross error of relying on the US Post Office to deliver my valuable books from California to Ohio. I never saw them again. A beautiful edition of 辞海 was among them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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