▎V 個夠, V ge gòu, to have a full dosage of an activity

 

Function This pattern expresses one’s great satisfaction in being able to indulge in some activity.

1 好久沒去 KTV 唱歌了。這次去，我要唱個夠。

Hǎojiǔ méi qù KTV chànggē le. Zhè cì qù, wǒ yào chàng ge gòu.

I haven’t done KTV in ages, and this time I’m going to sing my heart out.

2 聽說下個禮拜百貨公司開始打折。我要去買個夠。

Tīngshuō xià ge lǐbài bǎihuò gōngsī kāishǐ dǎzhé. Wǒ yào qù mǎi ge gòu.

I heard that sales are on next week at the department stores, I’m going to spend, spend, spend!

3 我住在學校宿舍，好久才能吃一次媽媽做的菜。每次回家都想吃個夠。

Wǒ zhù zài xuéxiào sùshè, hǎojiǔ cái néng chī yí cì māma zuò de cài. Měi cì huíjiā dōu xiǎng chī ge gòu.

Living in dorm I don’t get to eat mom’s home cooking very often, so whenever I go home I really want to stuff my face.

4 沒關係！讓他罵個夠吧。罵夠了，他就不會那麼生氣了。

Méi guānxi! Ràng tā mà ge gòu ba. Màgòu le, tā jiù bú huì nàme shēngqì le.

It’s OK. Just let him get it all out. That way he will be able to cool off.

5 這星期三晚上十點以後，啤酒打折。我跟朋友要去喝個夠。

Zhè xīngqísān wǎnshàng shídiǎn yǐhòu, píjiǔ dǎzhé. Wǒ gēn péngyǒu yào qù hē ge gòu.

This Wednesday beers are half off after 10 o’clock. My friends and I are going to drink to our heart’s content.

 

Usage

(1) This pattern is more often used to refer to future activities than to past activities.

(2) This pattern is an instance of the general construction ‘action 個 state’, e.g., ‘吃個飽’, ‘看個高興’, ‘玩個痛快’, in which 個 is not a measure.

(3) This pattern cannot be used in the negative, e.g.,＊吃個不飽 ＊chī ge bù bǎo, ＊吃個不夠＊chī ge bú gòu.