Lessons 3, 6, 10: Adverbials with the particle 地 and reduplicated adjectives

The structural particle 地 marks an adverbial; reduplicated adjectives (AA, AABB) express a high degree.

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她高高兴兴地对我说。

Tā gāogāoxìngxìng de duì wǒ shuō.

She told me happily.

Explanation

Adverbials and the structural particle “地”: “地” is the marker of an adverbial in a sentence (adverbial + 地 + verb).

Expressing degree with reduplicated adjectives: some Chinese adjectives can be reduplicated to express a high degree. Monosyllabic adjectives are reduplicated as AA, and in spoken Chinese the second syllable can take an erhua ending (儿). Disyllabic adjectives are reduplicated as AABB. After reduplication, the second syllable can be read lightly. When used as an adverbial, “地” is generally needed.

Structure

1
状语地动词
“地” is the marker of an adverbial in a sentence.
- 她高兴地告诉我，姐姐下个月就要结婚了。
  Tā gāoxìng de gàosu wǒ, jiějie xià ge yuè jiù yào jiéhūn le.
  She happily told me that she is getting married next month.
- 同学们都在努力地学习。
  Tóngxuémen dōu zài nǔlì de xuéxí.
  The classmates are all studying hard.
- 她在认真地看书。
  Tā zài rènzhēn de kàn shū.
  She is reading attentively.
2
AA (+儿) · AABB
AA: monosyllabic adjectives (in spoken Chinese they may take 儿); AABB: disyllabic adjectives; they express a high degree.
- 好好儿
  hǎohāor
  careful, properly
- 慢慢儿
  mànmānr
  slowly
- 早早儿
  zǎozāor
  early (reduplicated)
- 远远儿
  yuǎnyuānr
  xa xa
- 高高兴兴
  gāogāoxìngxìng
  happily, cheerfully
- 漂漂亮亮
  piàopiàoliàngliàng
  pretty, lovely
- 马马虎虎
  mǎmǎhūhū
  so-so, sloppy
- 别着急，你慢慢儿说。
  Bié zháojí, nǐ mànmānr shuō.
  Don't rush, just speak slowly.
3
AABB地动词
A reduplicated adjective used as an adverbial generally needs 地.
- 她高高兴兴地对我说，下个月就要结婚了。
  Tā gāogāoxìngxìng de duì wǒ shuō, xià ge yuè jiù yào jiéhūn le.
  She happily told me that she is getting married next month.
- 我高高的鼻子，黄黄的头发，中国人一看就知道我是老外。
  Wǒ gāogāo de bízi, huánghuáng de tóufa, Zhōngguórén yí kàn jiù zhīdào wǒ shì lǎowài.
  I have a tall nose and blond hair; Chinese people can tell at a glance that I'm a foreigner.
- 我汉语说得马马虎虎，中国人一听就知道我是老外。
  Wǒ Hànyǔ shuō de mǎmǎhūhū, Zhōngguórén yì tīng jiù zhīdào wǒ shì lǎowài.
  My Chinese is only so-so; as soon as Chinese people hear me, they know I'm a foreigner.

Usage notes

A reduplicated adjective already expresses a high degree, so 很 is not added (我汉字写得很马马虎虎 → 我汉字写得马马虎虎的).
When a reduplicated adjective is used as an adverbial, 地 is generally needed.

Common mistakes

~~我汉字写得很马马虎虎~~
我汉字写得马马虎虎的
the textbook corrects the wrong sentence

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