2 · Sentence patterns
Have a look: doubled verbs
verb reduplication: doing something briefly
A verb said twice — kànkan, kàn yi kàn, xiūxi xiūxi — does the action briefly or casually, and softens a request.
At a glance
- Remember
- Double the verb to do it briefly: kànkan, kàn yi kàn, and kàn le kàn when it is done.
- Form
- 看看one syllable: AA
- Signal words
- 看看
- 看一看
- 看了看
- 休息休息
- 一下
- Trap
- Wrong:我昨天看看了那本书。Right:我昨天看了看那本书。
Your turn
8 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in Chinese.
| one syllable: AA | 看看 |
| one syllable: A yi A | 看一看 |
| done already: A le A | 看了看 |
| two syllables: ABAB | 休息休息 |
| verb + object: AAB | 散散步 |
| the same with yíxià | 看一下 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
A one-syllable verb doubles as AA or A yi A: do it briefly, have a go.
这个菜很好吃，你尝尝。This dish is delicious — have a taste.
A two-syllable verb doubles as a whole, ABAB, with no yi in the middle.
你累了，坐下来休息休息吧。You’re tired — sit down and have a rest.
For something already done, le stands between the two halves: A le A.
他想了想，说：“好吧。”He thought for a moment and said, “All right.”
In a verb with its own object, only the verb part doubles: AAB.
晚饭以后我们去散散步。After dinner we’ll go for a little walk.
Example sentences
我能看看你的照片吗？Can I have a look at your photos?
这件衣服您可以试试。You’re welcome to try this on.
你给我们介绍介绍你的家乡吧。Tell us a bit about your home town.
她看了看我，什么也没说。She glanced at me and said nothing.
这件事我要想一想。I need to think this over a little.
周末我喜欢在家打扫打扫房间。At the weekend I like to give the flat a bit of a clean.
7 more example sentences
等等，我马上就来。Hang on — I’ll be right there.
你听听这首歌，很好听。Have a listen to this song — it’s lovely.
我们先商量商量，再决定。Let’s talk it over first, then decide.
他点了点头，走了。He gave a little nod and left.
有空的时候我们一起聊聊天。When we have time, let’s get together for a chat.
这个办法不错，我们试一试。That’s a good idea — let’s give it a try.
老师看了看我的作业，笑了。The teacher glanced at my homework and smiled.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English puts the past at the end of the verb, so 了 after the doubled verb feels natural. It is not: the doubled verb is one closed unit, and the 了 of a completed action goes inside it, between the two halves.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Say an action verb twice and it shrinks: 看看is “have a look”尝尝“have a taste”想想“think about it a bit” The second syllable loses its tone. English needs a whole phrase for the same idea — “have a go”, “take a quick look”, “give it a try” — and Chinese uses the doubled verb in exactly the places English uses those.
A one-syllable verb has three shapes. 看看 and 看一看 mean the same, the second a little more deliberate. For something already done, 了 goes in the middle: 他看了看表, “he glanced at his watch”. A two-syllable verb doubles as a whole, ABAB, and takes no 一: 休息休息, “have a rest”, 介绍介绍, “tell us a bit about it”.
Because it makes the action small, the doubled verb makes a request small too. 你看这个 is an instruction; 你看看这个 is an invitation. That is why it is everywhere in shops, offices and homes: 您试试, “do try it on”, 我问问他, “I’ll just ask him”. 一下 after the verb does much the same job.
Only actions somebody does on purpose can be doubled. Verbs of being, having and knowing cannot: there is no “shìshi” for 是, no doubled 有 or 知道. And a doubled verb is already complete, so it takes no 着, no 过, no 在 before it, and no 了 after it — the past form puts 了 between the two halves.
A closer look
Why it sounds friendly
A doubled verb plays the action down. Asking somebody to 帮我看看 asks for a glance, not an afternoon; offering to 问问 promises a small favour, not a campaign. The smaller the request sounds, the easier it is to grant, which is why the form is so common in polite speech and so rare in orders.
The same reasoning explains the past form. 他点了点头 is a short nod; 他笑了笑 a brief smile. Stories use it constantly for the small gestures between lines of dialogue.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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the verb has a number or an amount after it, or a result complement
it is not doubled: the amount or the result already says how much was done.
我看了三本书。I read three books.
The doubled verb itself means “a little”. A second statement of quantity next to it would contradict it, so the plain verb is used.
Worth knowing (1)
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Doubled verbs and doubled adjectives
An adjective can double too, but in a different shape and with a different meaning: a doubled verb makes the action smaller, a doubled adjective makes the description more vivid. Two-syllable verbs double as ABAB, two-syllable adjectives as AABB.
我们把房间打扫打扫，打扫得干干净净的。Let’s give the room a clean and get it spotless.
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