▎Reduplication of Disyllabic State Verbs (3)

 

Function Like monosyllabic adjectives, disyllabic adjectives in Chinese can be reduplicated to express intensified states. They occur as pre-VP adverbials marked by 地, as post-VP adverbial complements marked by 得, or as nominal modifiers marked by 的.

1 他們開開心心地一起吃飯。

Tāmen kāikāi xīnxīn de yìqǐ chīfàn.

They dined together happily.

2 王老闆客客氣氣地跟客人說話。

Wáng lǎobǎn kèkè qìqì de gēn kèrén shuōhuà.

Boss Wang talks to customers very politely.

3 美美每天都穿得漂漂亮亮的。

Měiměi měi tiān dōu chuān de piàopiào liàngliàng de.

Meimei dresses up beautifully every day.

 

Structures

(1) The reduplication of disyllabic adjectives is from AB into AABB.

1 開心→開開心心 happy → happily

2 輕鬆→輕輕鬆鬆 relaxed → in a relaxed manner

3 舒服→舒舒服服 comfortable → comfortably

(2) A reduplicated disyllabic adjective is followed by 地 when it modifies the verb.

1 大家開開心心地幫他過生日。

Dàjiā kāikāi xīnxīn de bāng tā guò shēngrì.

We all celebrated his birthday happily. (i.e., We had a good time celebrating his birthday.)

2 有了悠遊卡，就可以輕輕鬆鬆地到處逛逛。

Yǒule Yōuyóu kǎ, jiù kěyǐ qīngqīng sōngsōng de dàochù guàngguàng.

With the EasyCard, you can go anywhere and check things out easily.

3 大家舒舒服服地坐在餐廳裡。

Dàjiā shūshū fúfú de zuò zài cāntīng lǐ.

Everybody sat comfortably in the restaurant.

(3) A reduplicated disyllabic adjective is followed by 的 when it modifies a noun.

1 我要租一個乾乾淨淨的房間，比較舒服。

Wǒ yào zū yí ge gāngān jìngjìng de fángjiān, bǐjiào shūfú.

I want to rent a place that is spick and span, something comfortable.

2 小明是個客客氣氣的人，所以朋友很多。

Xiǎomíng shì ge kèkè qìqì de rén, suǒyǐ péngyǒu hěn duō.

Xiaoming is a very well-mannered person, and so has a lot of friends.

3 大家都想找輕輕鬆鬆的工作。

Dàjiā dōu xiǎng zhǎo qīngqīng sōngsōng de gōngzuò.

Everyone wants a nice and easy job.

(4) When a reduplicated disyllabic adjective serves as the predicate, the entire sentence ends with 的.

1 房間乾乾淨淨的，看起來真舒服。

Fángjiān gāngān jìngjìng de, kàn qǐlái zhēn shūfú.

The room is spick and span, it looks welcoming.

2 我看他早上開開心心的，沒因為昨天的事不高興。

Wǒ kàn tā zǎoshang kāikāi xīnxīn de, méi yīnwèi zuótiān de shì bù gāoxìng.

He seemed to me in a good mood this morning. He wasn’t upset about what happened yesterday.

3 他對人客客氣氣的。

Tā duì rén kèkè qìqì de.

He is courteous.

(5) When a reduplicated disyllabic adjective serves as a post-verbal complement, the entire sentence ends with 的, which can be optional.

1 他寫字寫得漂漂亮亮的。

Tā xiě zì xiě de piàopiào liàngliàng de.

He writes characters beautifully.

2 我聽得清清楚楚的，你別想騙我。

Wǒ tīng de qīngqīng chǔchǔ de, nǐ bié xiǎng piàn wǒ.

I’ve heard it very clearly. Don’t try to fool me.

3 這個旅館房間很大，他住得舒舒服服（的）。

Zhè ge lǚguǎn fángjiān hěn dà, tā zhù de shūshū fúfú (de).

The hotel room is pretty big. He finds it very comfortable to stay here.

Questions :

1 那裡的廚房是不是乾乾淨淨的？

Nàlǐ de chúfáng shìbúshì gāngān jìngjìng de?

Is the kitchen there clean?

2 學生是不是每天都快快樂樂的？

Xuéshēng shìbúshì měi tiān dōu kuàikuài lèlè de?

Do the students enjoy themselves every day?

3 房東對你們一直都客客氣氣的嗎？

Fángdōng duì nǐmen yìzhí dōu kèkè qìqì de ma?

Has the landlord always been so courteous to you?

 

Usage

(1) Not all disyllabic adjectives can be reduplicated. For example, those in the right column below cannot be reduplicated.

 

Yes	No
輕鬆qīngsōng ‘relaxed’, 漂亮piàoliàng ‘pretty’, 舒服shūfú ‘comfortable’, 乾淨gānjìng ‘clean’, 高興gāoxìng ‘happy’, 快樂kuàilè ‘happy’, 客氣kèqì ‘polite’	便宜piányí ‘inexpensive’, 好看hǎokàn ‘good-looking’, 傳統chuántǒng ‘traditional’, 難看nánkàn ‘bad-looking, ugly’, 好玩hǎowán ‘fun’, 麻煩máfán ‘troublesome’, 不錯búcuò ‘not bad’, 可怕kěpà ‘scary’, 年輕niánqīng ‘young’, 好喝hǎohē ‘nice to drink’, 有名yǒumíng ‘famous’, 方便fāngbiàn ‘convenient’, 特別tèbié ‘special’, 討厭tǎoyàn ‘annoying’

(2) No intensification adverb can appear before a reduplicated adjective. Two structures with the same function, thus not co-occurring, incompatible. For example:

1 ＊大家很開開心心地回家了。

＊Dàjiā hěn kāikāi xīnxīn de huíjiā le.

Everybody returned home very happily .

2 ＊她今天穿得非常漂漂亮亮。

＊Tā jīntiān chuān de fēicháng piàopiào liàngliàng.

She is dressed very beautifully today.