x的x，y的y

[metlx]

”就这样，我的小动物死的死，放的放。 = “Like that, my animals died or were released.

 

Does this grammatical structure have a name? What exactly does it mean and is it common to say?

 

Another example:

If I said 大家喝的喝，吃的吃, 聊的聊 － would that be read as “everyone was either drinking, eating, or chatting” (everyone doing exclusively one of the three) or more like “everyone was eating, drinking, and chatting” (everyone might be doing a little of any of the three)?

[Mindmaxd]

“v的v结构”，here is link you can check it    Uhttp://www.docin.com/p-612759459.html

It is all chinese not sure if you can read it

[stapler]

This is in the D&H in China textbook. IIRC they say it means "the people who were drinking were drinking, the people who were talking were talking" implying everyone who is doing that particular activity are fully engaged in it. So to answer your question it does NOT mean everyone was eating and drinking, but some are doing one thing, others another

PS I don't think you can say 大家喝的喝 because it has two subjects. The 喝的 are 喝ing. You literally wrote "everyone those who are drinking are drinking"

[yosondysh]

This topic is a very interesting one. I will try to explain it with my broken English.

1. As for "大家喝的喝，吃的吃, 聊的聊", literally it means “everyone was either drinking, eating, or chatting”. But it is not necessarily incompatible with “everyone was eating, drinking, and chatting”. Sounds illogical?

Imagine now we go to a party.We can see some people at the party are drinking, some are eating, and the rest of them are chatting each other. I assume those who are chatting must have eaten something, or, at least, they will eat eventually, and those who are drinking will not drink all along (well, it is hard to say). In this situation, we can say "大家喝的喝，吃的吃, 聊的聊".

2. So when do we use this pattern, "X的X, Y的Y"? It is commonly used in two situations: to "picture a moment" to describe the whole thing; to have a brief summary of the result. Usually, only two to three objects are selected to represent the whole thing, so it is a highly subjective way of expression.

Let's go back to the party. Now I see one guy sitting alone at the corner with no intention to eat, drink, or talk to someone else, yet I can still say that "大家喝的喝，吃的吃, 聊的聊",and totally ignore the guy at the corner. Through this kind of description, I "capture" the atmosphere that I would like to show you.

3. Because of its imprecise and subjective nature, this pattern is barely used in official documents and news report, but commonly in the literary works and written story, We do not often use this in conversation, unless we would like to create dramatic effect.

The objects being mentioned should be always selected carefully. "吃", "喝" and "聊" all together serve to imply a crowded, happy atmosphere, while "死" and "放" would remind you of a sad goodbye. Examples like "就这样，我的小动物死的死，活的活。" and "大家吃的吃，聊的聊，發呆的發呆。" are simply nonsense.

[metlx]

Hi, yosondysh! Thank you for your detailed explanation.

 

The sentence "就这样，我的小动物死的死，活得活。” is from a story "I am All Alone - 我孤独" found on the following website:

 

http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2012/08/10/im-all-alone/

 

There the sentence "就这样，我的小动物死的死，放的放" is translated as "In these ways, my pets have died, or been let go."

 

The author of that post on that website often posts the source of chinese stories found on his website. For this story, he didn’t mention the source, but I found a few entries with the same story on a few chinese websites. One such website where this story is found is:

 

http://www.duan8.com/zuowen/85144/gudu.html

 

I’m not sure not if this is a mistake on their part.

 

Also, I obtained the document posted by Mindmaxd where the structure (V的V) is explained. I translated a page sentence by sentence, but eventually gave it. I’m not (yet) able to understand those explanations.