---
title: "verb reduplicated (VV) in Chinese Grammar: Do something a little, With Examples"
description: "verb reduplicated (VV): do something a little; give it a try. Doubling a verb (看看, 想想) softens it: do it briefly or try it. 4 real lines from stories, each word explained."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/vv"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

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

# verb reduplicated (VV)

Do something a little; give it a try

Doubling a verb (看看, 想想) softens it: do it briefly or try it.

## In stories

我来**说说**中国小朋友喜欢的两天。

[中国小朋友喜欢的两天 · Chinese culture for kids](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/chinese-culture-for-kids#library-word-24-26) HSK 1

她**看看**爸爸的钱，看看妈妈的钱。

[十个一毛 · How to count money in Chinese (块 and 毛)](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/how-to-count-money-in-chinese-kuai-and-mao#library-word-174-176) HSK 1

弟弟回到家，很想**说说**这个。

[玩得开心！ · How to say have fun in Chinese](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/how-to-say-have-fun-in-chinese#library-word-59-61) HSK 1

妈妈说：“你去开门**看看**。”

[我想你了 · How to say I miss you in Chinese](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/how-to-say-i-miss-you-in-chinese#library-word-189-191) HSK 1

[Read 中国小朋友喜欢的两天](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/chinese-culture-for-kids#library-word-24-26)

## More patterns

- [把 + object + verb do something to … (and it ends up changed)](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/ba)
- [verb (+ 了) + duration (for how long) for … (how long … lasts)](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/duration)
- [verb + 得 + complement says how something is done (how well, how much, with what result)](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/v-de-c)
- […的时候 when …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/de-shihou)
- [verb1 + 着 + verb2 (doing 2 while/by doing 1) do something while …; do it by …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/v-zhe-v)
- [verb + 了 + verb … briefly; … a little](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/v-le-v)

## What does verb reduplicated (VV) mean in Chinese?

Do something a little; give it a try. Doubling a verb (看看, 想想) softens it: do it briefly or try it.

## How common is verb reduplicated (VV)?

It comes up in 104 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.