Mandarin · Chapter 12 · Lesson 15 · Grammar primer
Requests and imperatives
请 + verb for polite requests. 别/不要 for negative imperatives. Sentence-softening 吧/啊. Reduplication (看看, 试试) as a politeness device.
The short version
Reduplicate the verb to take the edge off
Bare Mandarin imperatives are blunt, and 请 (qǐng) is only the first layer. Saying the verb twice softens it into 'have a quick look' or 'give it a try': 看看 (kàn kàn), 听听 (tīng tīng), 试试 (shì shi), 等等 (děng děng). Stack all three tools for real deference: 请 (qǐng) plus reduplicated verb plus 吧 (ba).
你看看这个。 Nǐ kàn kan zhè ge.
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