▎Reduplication of Verbs in V了V (5)

 

Function The ‘V 了 V ’ pattern indicates the completion of a repeated action in the past that was done briefly and tentatively.

1 媽媽穿了穿那件衣服，覺得很舒服。

Māma chuān le chuān nà jiàn yīfú, juéde hěn shūfú.

Mom tried on that dress and found it very comfortable.

2 朋友告訴我夏天芒果很甜，我就嚐了嚐。真的好吃。

Péngyǒu gàosù wǒ xiàtiān mángguǒ hěn tián, wǒ jiù cháng le cháng. Zhēn de hǎochī.

My friends told me that mangos are sweet in the summer, so I tried some. And they were good!

3 老闆看了看我寫的計畫，然後說沒問題。

Lǎobǎn kàn le kàn wǒ xiě de jìhuà, ránhòu shuō méi wèntí.

My boss took a quick look at the proposal I wrote and said it was no problem.

 

Structures The verb in this construction must be monosyllabic.

Questions：

1 王先生昨天來了以後，是不是坐了坐就走了？

Wáng xiānshēng zuótiān láile yǐhòu, shìbúshì zuò le zuò jiù zǒu le?

When Mr. Wang came by yesterday, he just sat for a bit and left, right?

2 他沒買那本書，是不是因為看了看就看不下去了？

Tā méi mǎi nà běn shū, shìbúshì yīnwèi kàn le kàn jiù kànbúxiàqù le?

After trying for a while he simply couldn’t keep on reading the book, is that why he didn’t buy it?

3 他是不是想了想，還是決定回到自己國家工作？

Tā shìbúshì xiǎng le xiǎng, háishì juédìng huí dào zìjǐ guójiā gōngzuò?

After thinking about it for a long time, he finally decided to return to his country to work, right?

 

Usage

(1) The reduplication pattern ‘V 一 V’ can relate to the past or to the future. On the other hand, ‘V 了 V’ is used only in relation to past actions.

1 他聽說墾丁海邊很漂亮，想去看一看。

Tā tīngshuō Kěndīng hǎibiān hěn piàoliàng, xiǎng qù kàn yí kàn.

He heard that the seaside at Kenting is beautiful, so he’d like to go check it out.

2 請你把老師今天給的功課做一做！

Qǐng nǐ bǎ lǎoshī jīntiān gěi de gōngkè zuò yí zuò!

Please do the homework that the teacher assigned today.

3 如果你要去旅行，應該先找一找網站上的資料。

Rúguǒ nǐ yào qù lǚxíng, yīnggāi xiān zhǎo yì zhǎo wǎngzhàn shàng de zīliào.

If you want to go on a trip, you should search for information on websites.

(2) While V 一 V can be used in a single sentence (see 2 above), V 了 V can not. It must be used with another clause.

1 ＊我到公園走了走。

＊Wǒ dào gōngyuán zǒu le zǒu.

2 我昨天吃了飯以後，就到公園走了走。

Wǒ zuótiān chīle fàn yǐhòu, jiù dào gōngyuán zǒu le zǒu.

Yesterday after the meal, I went to the park and took a short walk.

3 我拿起一本語言學的書，看了看就覺得累了。

Wǒ náqǐ yì běn yǔyánxué de shū, kàn le kàn jiù juéde lèi le.

I picked up a book about linguistics and felt tired after reading for a while.

(3) If the verb is transitive, the construction often combines with the 把construction.

1 媽媽把餃子餡兒嚐了嚐，覺得剛好。

Māma bǎ jiǎozi xiànr cháng le cháng, juéde gāng hǎo.

Mom tasted the filling for the dumplings and felt it was just right.

2 哥哥把那件衣服試了試，還是覺得不合適。

Gēge bǎ nà jiàn yīfú shì le shì, háishì juéde bù héshì.

My older brother tried on the shirt, but found it did not suit him. (i.e., either in size, color, or style)