Ch 24 · Lesson 16Mandarin · Chapter 24 · Lesson 16 · Grammar primer
Four-character idioms: AABB and ABAC
Two shapes you can read on sight: a doubled adjective, 净 (spotless), and a frame, (wholeheartedly). The doubled form takes no .
The short version
Double a two-syllable adjective: 净 (gāngānjìngjìng)
净。Fángjiān gāngānjìngjìng de.
Why?Hide
Many four-character idioms are an adjective AB said as AABB: (gānjìng), clean, becomes 净 (gāngānjìngjìng), spotless. The doubled form takes no (hěn), and as a predicate it usually ends in (de). The other common shape is ABAC, a frame such as (yìxīnyíyì), wholeheartedly.
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| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
干净。 | Fángjiān gāngānjìngjìng de. | The room is spotless |
兴。 | Tā gāogāoxìngxìng de zǒu le. | He left happily |
样 | gèzhǒnggèyàng de dōngxi | all sorts of things |
干净。 | Tā bǎ fángjiān dǎsǎo de gāngānjìngjìng. | He cleaned the room spotless |
| Shape | Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| AABB | 干净 | gāngānjìngjìng | spotless |
| ABAC | yìxīnyíyì | wholeheartedly | |
| neither | luànqībāzāo | a complete mess |
Pinyin on this page writes each idiom as one word. AABB forms are written with full tones; in speech the second syllable is often lighter.
AABB: doubling a two-syllable adjective
Take a two-syllable adjective, AB, and say each syllable twice: AABB. The doubled form is more vivid than the plain one:
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
干净 | gāngānjìngjìng | spotless (from , clean) |
兴 | gāogāoxìngxìng | cheerfully (from , happy) |
清楚 | qīngqīngchǔchǔ | crystal clear (from , clear) |
虎 | mǎmǎhūhū | so-so (from , careless) |
Two habits come with the doubling. It takes no (hěn), because the doubling already is the emphasis. And as a predicate it usually ends in (de):
干净。(Fángjiān gāngānjìngjìng de.) - The room is spotless.。(Fángjiān hěn gānjìng.) - The room is clean.
Not every adjective doubles: (zhòngyào), important, has no AABB form.
ABAC: the frame idioms
The same character sits in slots one and three. Slots two and four hold a matched pair, usually two words that mean nearly the same thing:
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| yìxīnyíyì | wholeheartedly (, : both "mind") |
样 | gèzhǒnggèyàng | all sorts of (, 样: both "kind") |
言语 | zìyánzìyǔ | talk to yourself (言, 语: both "speech") |
缘 | wúyuánwúgù | for no reason at all (缘, : "cause") |
| bànxìnbànyí | half believing, half doubting (, ) |
So when you meet a new ABAC idiom, look at the pair in slots two and four: the meaning is usually the two of them together. The last row is the other kind of pair: two opposites. Note the (yī) of : yì before a first tone, yí before a fourth.
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