Lesson 16: In one breath, extremely, with great difficulty, obviously: 一口气, 不得了, 好容易, 明明, 慢腾腾

Five common expressions: doing something in one go, extremely/seriously, only with great difficulty, clearly, and the vivid ABB form.

Hanyu textbook · Hanyu 6 · Lesson 16

昨天晚上我一口气就把这本小说看完了。

Zuótiān wǎnshang wǒ yìkǒuqì jiù bǎ zhè běn xiǎoshuō kàn wán le.

Last night I read this whole novel in one go.

Explanation

一口气 (“in one breath”)

indicates doing something without a break (表示不间断地做某事). Meaning: in one breath; without a break; at one go; breathlessly.

不得了 (“extremely, terrible”)

1) Indicates a very high degree (表示程度很高). 2) Indicates that a situation is very serious and cannot be handled or dealt with (表示情况很严重，没法收拾). Meaning in the book: (of degrees) extremely, exceedingly; (of situations) terrible, horrible, desperately serious.

好容易 (“with great difficulty”)

also said as “好不容易”, indicating "not at all easy" (to manage to do something). Often combined with “才” to narrate something that has been completed.

明明 (“clearly, obviously”)

indicates that something is obviously so. A rhetorical clause or a clause indicating a turn is often placed before or after the clause with “明明”.

慢腾腾

the sentence 我一看他那慢腾腾的样子 means "I saw how slow and sluggish he was". “慢腾腾” is a vivid form of the adjective “慢”. Similar expressions include 绿油油 (lush green), 冷清清 (cold and deserted), 红通通 (bright red), 亮晶晶 (sparkling)...

Structure

1
一口气Vverb
Doing something in one go, without a break.
- 昨天晚上我一口气就把这本小说看完了。
  Zuótiān wǎnshang wǒ yìkǒuqì jiù bǎ zhè běn xiǎoshuō kàn wán le.
  Last night I read this whole novel in one go.
- 听见孩子在楼上哭，我一口气跑上楼来。
  Tīngjiàn háizi zài lóu shàng kū, wǒ yìkǒuqì pǎoshàng lóu lái.
  Hearing my child crying upstairs, I ran up in one breath.
- 我一口气说完，修车的师傅只看了我一眼，连话也没说。
  Wǒ yìkǒuqì shuōwán, xiūchē de shīfu zhǐ kànle wǒ yì yǎn, lián huà yě méi shuō.
  I said it all in one breath; the car repairman just glanced at me and didn't say a word.
- 为了今天晚上能看足球比赛，我一口气就把作业做完了。
  Wèile jīntiān wǎnshang néng kàn zúqiú bǐsài, wǒ yìkǒuqì jiù bǎ zuòyè zuòwán le.
  In order to watch tonight's football match, I finished my homework in one go.
2
Adj/V得不得了 | 不得了了 | ……可不得了
1) A very high degree (Adj/V + 得 + 不得了). 2) A very serious situation that cannot be handled or dealt with (不得了了; ……可不得了).
- 听说女朋友要来看他，他高兴得不得了。
  Tīngshuō nǚpéngyou yào lái kàn tā, tā gāoxìng de bùdéliǎo.
  Hearing that his girlfriend was coming to visit, he was overjoyed.
- 不得了了，两辆车撞在一起了。
  Bùdéliǎo le, liǎng liàng chē zhuàng zài yìqǐ le.
  Oh no, the two cars have crashed into each other!
- 骑车上街一定要注意安全，出了事故可不得了。
  Qí chē shàng jiē yídìng yào zhùyì ānquán, chūle shìgù kě bùdéliǎo.
  You must pay attention to safety when riding on the road; if an accident happens, it will be terrible.
- 我看了看手表，时间不早了，急得不得了。
  Wǒ kànle kàn shǒubiǎo, shíjiān bù zǎo le, jí de bùdéliǎo.
  I looked at my watch; it was getting late, and I was extremely anxious.
- 看到天黑了，车还没修好，我急得不得了。
  Kàndào tiān hēi le, chē hái méi xiūhǎo, wǒ jí de bùdéliǎo.
  Seeing that it was getting dark and the car still wasn't fixed, I was extremely worried.
3
好容易 / 好不容易才Vverb
Also said as “好不容易”: not at all easy (to manage to do something); often used with “才” to narrate something that has been completed.
- 我好容易才找到他家。
  Wǒ hǎo róngyì cái zhǎodào tā jiā.
  I had a hard time finding his house.
- 他好不容易才把车修好，没想到刚开了不久又坏了。
  Tā hǎo bù róngyì cái bǎ chē xiūhǎo, méi xiǎngdào gāng kāile bù jiǔ yòu huài le.
  He finally got the car fixed with great effort, but unexpectedly it broke down again before long.
- 好容易才等到他给那位先生修完车。
  Hǎoróngyì cái děngdào tā gěi nà wèi xiānsheng xiūwán chē.
  I finally managed to wait until he had finished fixing that person's car.
- 父亲死后，母亲好容易把她们姐妹俩带大，送她们上了大学。
  Fùqin sǐ hòu, mǔqin hǎoróngyì bǎ tāmen jiěmèi liǎ dàidà, sòng tāmen shàngle dàxué.
  After my father died, my mother worked hard to raise the two of us until we were grown up and sent us to university.
4
明明…可是/却/反问……optional
Indicates that something is obviously so; a rhetorical clause or a clause indicating a turn often comes before or after the clause with “明明”.
- 这明明是玛丽的，你怎么说是我的？
  Zhè míngmíng shì Mǎlì de, nǐ zěnme shuō shì wǒ de?
  This is clearly Mary's; why do you say it's mine?
- 他明明知道这件事，可是却说不知道。
  Tā míngmíng zhīdào zhè jiàn shì, kěshì què shuō bù zhīdào.
  He clearly knows about this, yet he says he doesn't.
- 这哪里有教人偷懒的意思呢？明明是亲人般的嘱咐啊！
  Zhè nǎlǐ yǒu jiāo rén tōulǎn de yìsi ne? Míngmíng shì qīnrén bān de zhǔfù a!
  Where is the intention of teaching people to be lazy? It's clearly the kind of advice a loved one would give!
- 她明明不会唱歌，你非让她唱，不是为难她吗？
  Tā míngmíng bú huì chàng gē, nǐ fēi ràng tā chàng, bú shì wéinán tā ma?
  She clearly can't sing, yet you insist on making her sing; isn't that putting her in an awkward position?
5
慢腾腾 (的) [dạng ABB: 绿油油, 红通通, 亮晶晶]
A vivid form of the adjective “慢”; similar: 绿油油, 冷清清, 红通通, 亮晶晶.
- 他做事总是慢腾腾的，我想这就是他的性格吧，没办法。
  Tā zuòshì zǒngshì màntēngtēng de, wǒ xiǎng zhè jiùshì tā de xìnggé ba, méi bànfǎ.
  He's always slow and sluggish when he does things; maybe that's just his personality, and there's nothing to be done.
- 我一看他那慢腾腾的样子。
  Wǒ yí kàn tā nà màntēngtēng de yàngzi.
  I saw how slow and sluggish he was.

Common mistakes

~~他做事总是很慢腾腾的~~
“慢腾腾” is already a vivid form of “慢”; do not add 很

Practice

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