9. BRIEF DURATIONAL

+ (yī 一) + reduplicated verb Stating how one anticipates the object will be dealt with. Completed action uses –le 了 instead of yī 一. The sentence may need to take a clause.


  1. Qǐng bǎ zhèi kài biǎo xiūxiu.
    请把这块表修修。(same in meaning as + yī 一 + reduplicated verb)
    Please fix this watch.


  2. Qǐng bǎ zhèi kài biǎo xiū yi xiū.
    请把这块表修一修。(same in meaning as + reduplicated verb)
    Please fix this watch.


  3. Tā bǎ zhèi kài biǎo xiū-le xiū, xiànzài yòu néng zǒu le.
    她把这块表修了修, 现在又能走了。(-le 了 + verb)
    She fixed the watch a little bit and now it's working again.

    Note: Monosyllabic verbs when reduplicated can take yī 一 or le 了 inbetween, as in 9.2 and 9.3. Disyllabic verbs when reduplicated may not do the same. So it would be wrong to say jiěshì yi jiěshì 解释一解释 'explain' or jiěshì le jiěshì 解释了解释.