What's The Real Meaning Of Chinese Verb Reduplication

In your daily conversations, you may often hear the Chinese say: "看看kànkan、听听tīngting、说说shuōshuo…" such like these Verb Reduplications.

So, what's the real meaning of these Chinese Verb Reduplications? Well, before formally answering you why, please assume a scenario you may have encountered.

Imagine you are in a clothing store, and the salesperson is enthusiastically selling some clothes to you. At this time, you are a little hesitant, however you don't want the salesperson to bother you anymore, the best you can say is...?

   wǒ kàn zhè jiàn yīfu.

A. 我看这件衣服。

   wǒ xiān kànkan.

B. 我先看看。  

   wǒ jiù kànkan.

C. 我就 看看。   

You'll notice that we've used the verb-reduplication form: Verb+Verb or VV.  We usually use it in the following three situations.

1. To try and show your politeness

The most common meaning of VV is--To try and include a kind degree of politeness.

Then, still in the clothing store, you decide to buy the cloth, but when the salesperson tells you the price, you are becoming hesitate, and you want to express your hesitation.

wǒ xiǎngxiang zài juédìng ba.

我想想再决定吧。

Let me think about it before making a decision.

Děngdeng wǒ, qù  yíxià xǐshǒujiān.

等等我，去一下洗手间。

Please wait, I need to go to the bathroom.

2. To express your uncertainty

When you want to express your uncertainty, using VV is also a wise choice.

⚠️When using VV to express uncertainty, you do not need to specify the time and quantity, like:

Wǒ xiǎngxiang yígè xiǎoshí zài juédìng ba.

❌ 我想想一个小时再决定吧。 

Let me think for an hour before making a decision.

     Wǒ xiǎngxiang yíhuìr zài juédìng ba.

❌ 我 想想 一会儿再决定吧。   

Let me think for a while before making a decision.

      Wǒ xiǎng yíhuìr zài juédìng ba.

✅ 我想一会儿再决定吧。

Let me think for a while before making a decision.

*If you want to use time and quantity, just use Verb+ amount of time.

3. Listing some narrate daily activities

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