“Again” is a very common word. In Mandarin Chinese, the meaning of “again” is expressed in two different ways. See if you can detect them in the following dialogue. Imagine you arrive at work late again one morning. Your boss catches you right in the act:
| Example: | |
|---|---|
Boss: | 你怎么又迟到了？这个礼拜已经是第三次了！ Transcription: Nǐ zěnme yòu chídào le? zhège lǐbài yǐjīng shì dì sān cì le! Translation: How come you were late again? This is the third time this week! |
You: | 老板，我的闹钟又坏了！我保证我再也不迟到了！ Transcription: Lǎobǎn, wǒde nàozhōng yòu huài le! wǒ bǎozhèng wǒ zài yè bù chídào le! Translation: Boss, my alarm broke again! I promise I will never be late again! |
Boss: | 好吧，我再相信你一次。 Transcription: Hǎoba, wǒ zài xiāngxìn nǐ yícì. Translation: Okay, I will trust you again this time. |
Did you notice that words 再 meaning zài and 又 transcribed yòu are both used to express the meaning of “again” in the examples above? These two words are very similar, but are they interchangeable? Are there other meanings of these words? Is there a difference in how they’re used in a sentence?
In this post, we will examine how we can answer these questions for 再 transcribed zài and find the answers to them. For 又 transcribed yòu, head to our other post!
How to use 再 (zài) to indicate actions in the future in Mandarin Chinese?
Adverbs are words that modify either adjectives or verbs. They are placed before the adjectives or the verbs in Mandarin Chinese. Look at the adverb 再 transcribed kài in the examples from above:
Are you ready to dive into more usages of 再?
How does 再 (zài) indicate an action that will happen “again” in the future?
再 is used before an adjective or a verb to express that something has happened before and will happen again in the future. Let’s look at the sentence pattern.
How to use 再 (zài) to indicate an action that will keep happening to a higher degree?
In the pattern mentioned above (subject + 再 transcribed zài + adjective / verb), you will see words like 一下儿 transcribed yíxiàrmeaning in a while , 一点儿 transcribed yìdiǎnrmeaning a bit , or a quantity phrase, which are all added after the adjective or verb to indicate for how much more/longer the action will be happening. The notion of “again” is implied in the sense of keeping doing something.
Look at this sentence:
再 is placed before the verb 坚持 transcribed jiānchímeaning to hold on, and it is followed by a quantity phrase 三分钟 transcribed sān fēnzhōngmeaning three minutes. Let's look at more examples:
How to use 再 (zài) to indicate time sequence in the future: 先 (xiān)... 再 (zài)...?
再 can be used before a verb to express that another action will happen after the first action happens. It is like the English word “then.” You will use two sentences in this pattern. The first sentence will use the word 先 transcribed xiānmeaning at first to start a sentence and it will be followed by another sentence with 再 to express that something happens first, and then another thing follows. If the subjects in these two sentences are the same, the subject in the latter part will be omitted.
How is 再 (zài) used in negative sentences in Mandarin Chinese?
The adverb 再 can also be used along with the words 不 transcribed bù and 没 transcribed méi, that form negative sentences in Mandarin Chinese. These two words are placed before a verb or an adjective to negate. Check our post about how to use 不 and 没.
How do you decide the order of these words? Read on! The following part will discuss how we use 再 in negative sentences.
How to use 不再 (bù zài) to indicate that “action will no longer happen again”?
不再 transcribed bù zài is used to express that something will no longer happen again. Please note that in this pattern, the word modal particle 了 transcribed le is added in the end of the sentence to indicate the change of state. 了 transcribed le cannot be omitted.
How to use 再也不 (zài yě bù) to indicate “action will never happen again”
再也不 transcribed zài yě bù is used to express that something will never happen again. It indicates the speaker’s strong determination.The same as 不再 transcribed bù zài, the modal particle 了 transcribed le is added in the end of the sentence to indicate the change of state. 了 transcribed le cannot be omitted.
How to use 再也没 (zài yě méi) to indicate "have/has not happened again"?
再也没 transcribed zài yě méi is used before a verb to express that something has not happened again. In this pattern, the aspectual particle 过 transcribed guo is used after the verb. Let’s look at the pattern:
To sum up
As we discussed, 再 transcribed zài is placed before an adjective or a verb to indicate:
Actions that will happen again in the future
欢迎你下次再来我家玩。Transcription: Huānyíng nǐ xià cì zài lái wǒ jiā wán.Translation: Welcome to my house again next time.请您在等五分钟。Transcription: Qǐng nín zài děng wǔ fēnzhōng.Translation: Please wait five more minutes.Actions that will happen after the first action happens: 先 transcribed xiān ... 再 transcribed zài...
我们先吃饭，再写作业。Transcription: Wǒmen xiān chīfàn, zài xiě zuòyè.Translation: We will eat first, and then do homework.
再 transcribed zài is also used in negative sentences to express:
| Meaning of 再 (zài) in negative sentence | Example |
|---|---|
不再 Transcription: bù zài Translation: will not happen again | 他们不再学武术了。 Transcription: Tāmen búzài xué wǔshù le. Translation: They will no longer study martial arts. |
再也不 Transcription: zài yě bù Translation: never happen again | 我再也不迟到了。 Transcription: Wǒ zài yè bù chídào le. Translation: I will never be late again. |
再也没 Transcription: zài yě méi Translation: have/has not happened again | 他们再也没迟到过。 Transcription: Tāmen zài yě méi chídào guo. Translation: They have not been late again. |
Thank you for joining us in our discussion on how to use 再 transcribed zài. If you are interested in learning about the other half of “again,” namely 又 transcribed yòu, read our other post where we talk about the difference between these two tricky words.
You can always try our exercises to practice what we discussed!
:quality(80))
:quality(75))
:quality(75))
:quality(75))
:quality(75))