▎再 A 也 B, (zài A yĕ B), no matter how A, still B

 

Function This pattern indicates that a situation still holds true (after 也) regardless of circumstances (after 再).

1 學中文壓力再大，我也要繼續學。

Xué Zhōngwén yālì zài dà, wǒ yě yào jìxù xué.

No matter how much stress I get from studying Chinese, I’m going to keep studying.

2 你再生氣也不能罵人。

Nǐ zài shēngqì yě bù néng mà rén.

No matter how mad you get, you can’t ream other people out.

3 豬腳麵線再好吃也不能天天吃。

Zhūjiǎo miànxiàn zài hǎochī yě bù néng tiāntiān chī.

It doesn’t matter how delicious pork knuckle rice threads are. You can’t eat the dish every day.

4 工作再穩定也可能發生變化。

Gōngzuò zài wěndìng yě kěnéng fāshēng biànhuà.

No matter how stable a job is, changes can still happen.

5 考試再簡單，也有人考不好。

Kǎoshì zài jiǎndān, yě yǒu rén kǎobùhǎo.

Regardless of how easy a test is, there’s always someone who does poorly.

 

Usage This pattern is similar to 不管bùguǎn A 都dōu B in usage. However, the 不管 pattern comes with 都 and suggests that the B situation always happens regardless of what circumstance A is. On the other hand, the 再pattern comes with 也 and usually the A in this pattern refers to the most extreme circumstance. For example,

1 自己做的菜不管多麼難吃，都得吃光。

Zìjǐ zuò de cài bùguǎn duōme nánchī, dōu děi chīguāng.

2 自己做的菜，再難吃也得吃光。

Zìjǐ zuò de cài, zài nánchī yě děi chīguāng.

No matter how unpalatable the food you make is, you have to eat it all up.

Here, 1 is more factual and non-emotional, while 2 is an exaggeration.