---
title: "verb + 一 + verb in Chinese Grammar: … a little, With Examples"
description: "verb + 一 + verb: … a little; give it a try. V一V softens the verb: do it briefly or try it. 4 real lines from stories, each word explained."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/v-yi-v"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

[Chinese grammar](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar)

# verb + 一 + verb

… a little; give it a try

V一V softens the verb: do it briefly or try it.

## In stories

老师说：“今天，我们**写一写**‘我最好的朋友’。”

[我最好的朋友 · My best friend: an easy Chinese essay story](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/my-best-friend-in-chinese#library-word-10-13) HSK 2

今天上课，老师说：“请你们**说一说**，家里有什么小动物？”

[比爸爸还大 · My pet is older than my dad](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/my-pet-in-chinese-short-story#library-word-13-16) HSK 2

如来佛祖说：“好，我们来**比一比**。

[五行山下 · Under the Five-Element Mountain](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/under-the-five-element-mountain-journey-to-the-west-easy-chinese-8#library-word-147-150) HSK 3

平时工作和学习都很忙，周末**走一走**，心里就舒服多了。

[在城市里慢慢走 · What is City Walk in China?](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/what-is-city-walk-in-china#library-word-225-228) HSK 3

[Read 我最好的朋友](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/my-best-friend-in-chinese#library-word-10-13)

## More patterns

- [一…就… as soon as …, …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/yi-jiu)
- [一…，…就… as soon as …, …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/yi-comma-jiu)
- [一 + measure word (+ noun) + 也/都 + 不/没 not a single …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/yi-cl-ye-bu)
- [跟/和…一样 the same as …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/gen-yiyang)
- [像…一样/似的 like …; as … as …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/xiang-yiyang)
- [一 + measure + (noun) + 也/都 + negative not even …; not a single one](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/yi-ye-bu)

## What does verb + 一 + verb mean in Chinese?

… a little; give it a try. V一V softens the verb: do it briefly or try it.

## How common is verb + 一 + verb?

It comes up in 24 readings of the 392 stories and articles in our free Library.

## Does it correct my mistakes?

No. It shows which patterns a text uses and what each one does; it doesn’t mark errors. Paste a sentence you wrote to see whether it uses the pattern you meant.

## More free tools

- [Chinese dictionary](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-dictionary)
- [Measure words](https://mandarinthewild.com/measure-words)
- [How hard is this text?](https://mandarinthewild.com/text-level)
- [Free Chinese stories](https://mandarinthewild.com/library)

Patterns found by our own parser; lines from our free Library.