一 ... 一 ...

[Beo]

hi everyone,

 

I've read these sentences in one of DuChinese stories: 

 

1.) 他回头一看，突然觉得眼前一亮。Not sure how to deal with "一 ... 一  ... ". Is this a special structure?

2.) 丁然决定和她多说几句话。Do I need the 话 at the end? Wouldn't the sentence work without it?: 丁然决定和她多说几句。

3.) "人都有一死"，下雨回答道，他想了一下，又说，"..."。Why do I need 道 after 回答?

 

Names in this story: 丁然 and 下雨

 

Hope you can help me!

 

Cheers Beo

[Dlezcano]

I will try my best.

1)  The first 一 is used to introduce an action which happens in first place, before you realize something happened. The second 一 means that the action happens suddendly.

2) You could say either sentence. 句 is the classifier of 话, so you can omit the noun if you like, but 话 is always implied there.

3) 道 is the same as 说, it's like saying 他回答说. I see it much more often in written language than the spoken one, especially in novels or stories.

[roddy]

1) There's no special structure there, but it might make the sentence nicer. There are some structures like that worth looking out for though, like 一生一世 - a good dictionary will have them if you look far enough down the 一 entry. 

2 and 3) as above. 

[Beo]

Thanks for the explanation!