#04 Verb Duplication (看看, 听听, 试试) | Night Market Street Food | Learn Chinese Online | HSK 2

Episode 4 June 13, 2025 00:17:07
#04 Verb Duplication (看看, 听听, 试试) | Night Market Street Food | Learn Chinese Online | HSK 2
Chinese Learning Podcast | HSK 2
#04 Verb Duplication (看看, 听听, 试试) | Night Market Street Food | Learn Chinese Online | HSK 2

Jun 13 2025 | 00:17:07

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Show Notes

How to Sound Friendly in Chinese with Verb Duplication (看看, 听听, 试试) + Explore the Magic of Night Markets In this episode, we explore how verb duplication in Chinese — like 看看 (kànkan), 听听 (tīngting), and 试试 (shìshi) — can make your speech sound softer, more casual, and more polite. Whether you're inviting someone, making a suggestion, or trying something out, these forms help you sound natural and friendly in everyday conversations.

We’ll also take you into the heart of Chinese night markets (夜市 yèshì) — vibrant spaces full of sizzling street food, lights, noise, and local life. It’s where language, food, and culture come together. In this episode, you’ll learn: ✅ How to use verb duplication to soften your tone ✅ The subtle differences between 看看, 听听, and 试试 ✅ Practical example sentences you can start using today ✅ What to expect at a Chinese night market — and what to eat first! ✅ Cultural insights on why food and friendliness go hand in hand in China.

At Hanyu Chinese School, we take pride in offering a unique approach to language learning. What makes our school special? Here are some highlights:

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Episode Transcript

[00:00:10] Speaker A: HieveryoneandwelcometotheHanyuChineseSchoolPodcast. I ' mMelanieandI ' mherewithouroldlovelyfriendEmmeline. [00:00:20] Speaker B: HiMelanie, hieveryone. I ' mveryexcitedabouttoday ' sepisodebecausewe ' regoingtolearnsomethingsmallthatmakesabigdifference, thatisverbreplicationinChinese. [00:00:37] Speaker A: Exactly. Everheardphraseslike 看看, 听听 or 试试 andwonderedwhytheverbisreduplicated? It ' snotamistake. It ' safeatureofspokenMandarin. Anditmakesyourlanguagesoundsofter, friendlierandwaymorenaturalandcasual. [00:00:59] Speaker B: Andthebestpartisit ' ssupereasytolearnandfuntouse. [00:01:08] Speaker A: Oh, soplusintoday ' sfictionaldialogue, we ' lltakeyoustraighttoabuzzingChinesenightmarketwhereitsgrammarshowsupnaturally. Areyouhungry? Ihopeso. [00:01:20] Speaker B: Becauselaterinthisepisode, wewillalsotakeaculturaldeepdiveintoChinesestreetfood, oneofthemostexcitingpartinChina. [00:01:33] Speaker A: Solet ' sgetstarted. [00:01:36] Speaker B: 哇, 好多 人 啊! 我 饿 了, 我们 吃点 什么 吧? 可以 呀, 你 想 吃 什么? 要 不要 看看 那个 牛肉面 摊? [00:02:11] Speaker A: 好像 不错, 我 听说 那家 的 辣 牛肉 特别 有名。 [00:02:20] Speaker B: 那 我们 过去 看看, 顺便 听听 老板 怎么 做 的。 [00:02:26] Speaker A: 哈哈, 我 想 试试 他们 的 凉面, 天气 有点 热。 [00:02:33] Speaker B: 好 主意, 我们 一起 试试看! [00:02:38] Speaker A: OK, let ' stalkthegrammar. Ifyou ' venoticedthosedoubled - upverbslike 看看, 试试 or 听听, you ' renotimaginingthings, it ' scalledverbduplication, andit ' severywhereinChineseconversation. [00:02:59] Speaker B: Soit ' snotjustforfunorstyle, ithasaveryspecificpurpose. Verbduplicationmakesyourspeechmorecasual, polite, andevenalittlebitplayful. Ithelpssoftentherequestandmakesuggestionsmorefriendlyorsimply, expressinglikeaquicktryoralightaction. Sothefirstoneweseehere, wecanseethere ' s. inthedialogueweuse 看看, 试试, 听听 Sowesimplyrepeattheverb 看 to 看看, 试 to 试试. [00:03:42] Speaker A: And 听 to 听听 Solet ' sbreakitdownwiththedialogueexamplesSofirst, 看看 havealook 要 不要 看看 那个 牛肉面 摊? 要 不要 看看 那个 牛肉面 摊? 要 不要 看看 那个 牛肉面 摊? [00:04:23] Speaker B: 听听 老板 怎么 做 的 听听 老板 怎么 做 的 看看 老板 怎么 做 的 itcanalsomakesensemeansthatlet ' sgotakealooklet ' sgocheckitouthowthechefmakesitsobothways 听听 or 看看 sometimescanbeusedeachtogether 嗯. [00:05:17] Speaker A: Verygood, thankyou. Andnextpart, 试试 giveatry. 我 想 试试 他们 的 凉面。 Iwanttotrytheircoldnoodles. Soyouarenotcommittingtoabigdecision, so 试试 isrelaxed. ItmeansI ' lljusttryitandsee. [00:05:42] Speaker B: Soanothertipforadvancedlearner. Youcanusethevocationtosuggestanactioninasofter, lessimposingway, especiallyhelpfulinservicesettingorwhenmakingrecommendation. [00:06:04] Speaker A: 你 试试 or 你 试一下. [00:06:26] Speaker B: Thoughthisislesscommonforexampletheword 休息 takearest 休息 wecanalsosay 休息 休息 meansliketakeashortrestSoinshort, deducationaddslightness. It ' snotjustaboutactions, it ' saboutthemoodandthetone. Sowhenyousayit, yousayitmorelightly, moreplayful, likethat. Andit ' soneofthepatternsthatwillinstantlymakeyousoundmorenative. [00:07:05] Speaker A: OK, soit ' syourturn. Howwouldyousay, let ' strythatdishusingoneoftoday ' sduplicatedverbs? [00:07:16] Speaker B: Soyoucanpausetheepisodeandthinkaboutitalittlebitandwriteyouranswersdownbelow. Wewillcheckit. [00:07:28] Speaker A: OK, sonowlet ' sgobacktoourdialoguetoreviewwhatwehavetalkedaboutduplicationverbs. OK, I ' llstart. 哇, 好多 人 啊。 我 饿 了。 我们 吃点 什么 吧。 Wow, somanypeople. I ' mstarving. Shallweeatsomething? [00:07:55] Speaker B: 嗯, 可以 啊。 你 想 吃 什么? 要 不要 看看 那个 牛肉面 摊? [00:08:11] Speaker A: 好像 不错。 我 听说 那家 的 辣 牛肉 特别 有名。 [00:08:25] Speaker B: 那 我们 过去 看看, 顺便 听听 老板 怎么 做 的。 Thenlet ' sheadoverandlistenhowthechefpreparesit. [00:08:38] Speaker A: 哈哈, 我 想 试试 他们 的 凉面。 天气 有点 热。 Iwanttotrytheircoldnoodles. It ' sabithottoday. [00:08:53] Speaker B: 好 主意, 我们 一起 吃 吃 看。 [00:08:57] Speaker A: 试试、. [00:08:58] Speaker B: 看看、 听听。 [00:09:22] Speaker A: OK, soifyoulikeourpodcast, whatshouldyoudo? [00:09:32] Speaker B: Ifyouenjoythisepisodeandfindingithelpful, don ' tforgettohitthelikebuttonandsubscribe, soyouwillnevermissanylesson. [00:09:43] Speaker A: Yeah, andifyouwanttotakeyourlearningfurther, visitourwebsite, hanyuchineschool. com. Youcantryafreeclasswithanativeteacherandpracticespeakinginarealsupportiveenvironment. [00:09:58] Speaker B: 别忘了 我们 还有 不同 的 平台 Spotify、 ApplePodcast、 YouTube 等 各种 平台 都 适合 你 分享 这个 平台 给 你 的 朋友、 家人 学习 或 想 了解 更 多 的 中国 真的 帮助 你 成长 所以 请 发送 他们 链接! 欢迎! [00:10:29] Speaker A: Andnowlet ' sdiveintooneofthemosticonicpartsofChineseculture, thenightmarkets, 夜市. ThesebustlingeveningbazaarsareafeastforthesensesandaperfectplacetoexperienceauthenticChinesestreetfood. [00:10:55] Speaker B: 是 的, 相同 於 西方 市場, 中國 夜市 充滿 繁華 的 文字, 色彩 繽紛 的 地方, 商店 和 無數 的 零食。 它們 在 日落 後 生長, 把 城市 變成 生活 的 社會 中心, 讓 本地人 和 遊客 可以 一起 留在 那裡, 嘗試 最 本地 的 食物。 [00:11:22] Speaker A: Hmm, onethingthatsurprisesmanyvisitorsisthesheervariety. Atanightmarket, youcanfindeverythingfromspicyskewerstosweetdesserts, dumplingstofriedsnacks, allfreshlymaderightinfrontofyou. [00:11:43] Speaker B: 嗯 哼 正是 所以 无论 你 是 饥饿 还是 想要 一顿 正常 的 晚餐 你 都 可以 在 我们 的 夜市 里 找到 比如说 成都 夜市 有名 的 就是 串串 烧 你 可以 看到 照片 里面 他们 把 肉 放在 一起 就 像 烧烤 一样 用 火烧 烧 的 肉 和 蔬菜 deepintohot, hotfire, andboth, it ' slikeareallyadventureandsocietyevent. [00:12:24] Speaker A: AndinplaceslikeTaipeiorShanghai, youwillfindxiaolongbao, thosedelicatesoupdumplingssteamedinbamboobaskets. Eatingthemisanartform, carefullybitingaholetosipthesoupbeforeenjoyingtherest. [00:12:47] Speaker B: NightMarketaremorethanjustfoods, right? Theyareaplacethatwecanmeetwithpeople, yourfriends, afterworkyoucangathertogetherwithfamily, enjoyacasualdinner, andstrangerstobondtogetheroversharedflavors. [00:13:08] Speaker A: 嗯, 還有 一個 有趣 的 事實 許多 夜市 有 一個 歷史 已經 有 幾 百年 了 每 一個 世代 都 牽涉 到 它們 但 它們 永遠 都 是 社群 生活 的 重要 元素 嗯, 所以 如果 你 有 機會來 中國 夜市 的話 記得 要 先品 嘗 食物 先 融入 到 夜市 的 氣氛 聽 到 聊天. [00:13:21] Speaker B: 享受 古老 的 傳統 我個 人 很 喜歡 去 夜市, 因為 每次 我 不 知道 要 吃 什麼, 我 都 會 去 夜市 跟 朋友 一起 去 看看, 因為 那裡 有 很多 地方 可以 去 看看, 對 吧? [00:14:02] Speaker A: Yeah, andpleasedon ' teattoomuchbecauseyouwillgetabitfat. Andsonexttimeyou ' reinChina, headoutafterdark. Findanightmarketnearbyandtryalittlebitofeverything. Andofcourse, usetoday ' sgrammartotakepolitelyandmakeyourexperienceevenmoreauthentic. Okay, sowehadaquestionbefore. [00:14:32] Speaker B: 我们 去 试试 那 道菜。 Ifnot, don ' tworry, justkeeppracticing. Using 试试 heremakesthewholeinvitationfriendlyandrelaxed. It ' sexactlylikesayinglet ' sgiveitatry. OK, sonowit ' syourturn. Canyouwriteasentenceusing 看看, 听听 or 试试? [00:15:16] Speaker A: Itcouldbeaboutanything, asong, amovie, somefoodyouwanttotry, orevenashopyouwanttovisit. [00:15:23] Speaker B: Postyoursentenceinthecommentsection, andwewillreadthem. Don ' tbeshy, practicingisalwaysthewaytoimprove. [00:15:35] Speaker A: OK, sotodaywehavelearnedhowverbduplicationinChinesecanmakeyourspeechsoundmorenatural, polite, andfriendly. It ' sasmallchallengethathasabigimpact. [00:15:50] Speaker B: AndwetookatastyjourneythroughtheChinesestreetfood, aculturalexperiencethatcombinesflavor, community, andhistory. [00:16:03] Speaker A: 现在 正在. [00:16:19] Speaker B: 再见! 下周 见!

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