Learn the difference between 又 and 再
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| Hi, everybody! Welcome back to Chinese whiteboard lessons with Yinru and I'm Yinru. Today, we're going to do more word comparisons. We have two words that mean “again” or one more time. They are 又 (yoù) and 再 (zaì). So 又 (yoù) and 再 (zaì) can both mean again or one more time. For example you want to say, “Can you say that again?”. You would say - 你能再说一遍吗 (Nǐ néng zàishuō yībiàn ma), 你能再说一遍吗 (Nǐ néng zàishuō yībiàn ma). But when you want to say, “He said it again.”, you would say - 他又说了一遍 (Tā yòu shuōle yībiàn). So why do we use 又 (yoù) and 再 (zaì) differently and how do we use them? Well, let’s find out! |
| For this word 又 (yoù), it usually refers to something or some actions that have happened or that is happening right now. Like in here the first set of example - 小林又跟我解释了一遍 (Xiǎo Lín yòu gēn wǒ jiěshìle yībiàn), 小林 (Xiǎo Lín) apparently is a person's name and “he explained to me one more time” 解释了一遍 (jiěshìle yībiàn). He has explained it so it's in the past that we use 又 (yoù) here. |
| 小林又跟我解释了一遍。 (Xiǎo Lín yòu gēn wǒ jiěshìle yībiàn.) |
| And second one 你怎么又迟到了？ (Nǐ zěnme yòu chídàole?)... |
| 迟到 (chídào) is “to be late”. “How come you’re late it again?” So here, you are already late so we use 又 (yoù), 又迟到了 (yòu chídàole). |
| Next one… |
| 他看了又看，可怎么也找不到他的名字。 (Tā kànle yòu kàn, kě zěnme yě zhǎo bù dào tā de míngzì.) Okay, the second half means but he can't find his name no matter how much he tried or how hard he tried, he can't find his name. And 他看了又看 (kànle yòu kàn), 看 (kàn) “looked” and again he looked. So 看了又看 (kànle yòu kàn) means “looked and looked again” so it's in the past, it has happened, we use 又 (yoù), all right. |
| And for 再 (zaì), most of the time, 再 (zaì) is used when something is going to happen. Like when you're getting online and you log in your account, 账户 (zhànghù) “account”, and they want you to enter your password and you entered it one more time, you would say - 请再输入一次密码 (Qǐng zài shūrù yīcì mìmǎ). 输入 (shūrù) is “enter”, 密码 (mìmǎ) is “password”. “Please enter your password one more time.” So it's going to happen, they want you to do it now, so - 再输入一遍。 (Zài shūrù yībiàn.) “Enter it one more time.” 请再输入一遍密码。 (Qǐng zài shūrù yībiàn mìmǎ.) |
| And 我爸刚才没接电话，我再给他打一个。 (Wǒ bà gāngcái méi jiē diànhuà, wǒ zài gěi tā dǎ yīgè.) 我爸 (wǒ bà) “My dad” and 刚才 (gāngcái) “just now” didn’t pick up or answer the phone 电话 (diànhuà) and now, I’m going to give him another call 我再给他打一个 (wǒ zài gěi tā dǎ yīgè). 再给他打一个电话。 (Zài gěi tā dǎ yīgè diànhuà.) So this is 我 (wǒ) is “going to do that again” so we use 再 (zaì). 我爸 (wǒ bà), you may notice that there is no the 的 (de) between 我 (wǒ) the pronoun and 爸 (bà) the title. So the thing is in a colloquial language, in everyday speech, you don't need that 的 (de) between a pronoun and the family title. So it's more colloquial when you say 我爸 (wǒ bà) instead of 我的爸爸 (wǒ de bàba). So 我爸没有接电话 (Wǒ bà méiyǒu jiē diànhuà) “My dad didn't pick up his phone and I'm going to call him again” 我再给他打一个 (wǒ zài gěi tā dǎ yīgè). |
| The next sentence… |
| 欢迎再次光临 (Huānyíng zàicì guānglín), you may hear 欢迎光临 (huānyíng guānglín.) a lot when you go visit a store or restaurant. That means “welcome”. So 再次 (zàicì) “another time”, “welcome to come again”, 再次光临 (zàicì guānglín) and they want you to come back in the future. So we use 再 (zaì) here, 欢迎再次光临 (Huānyíng zàicì guānglín). So the biggest difference is whether something or the action you're describing has happened or is going to happen. |
| And the second difference is they have different tones when you use them. So when you use 又 (yoù), a lot of times, you have very strong emotions and most of the time, those emotions are like complaining or you're angry, you're not happy about it - 你怎么又忘了 (Nǐ zěnme yòu wàngle), 忘了 (wàngle) forgot and forgot again. How come you forgot again? How can you do that? I'm really angry you're doing that, you forgot again - 又忘了 (yòu wàngle). It has a very strong tone like complaining. |
| 第二个 (Dì èr gè) |
| 怎么又轮到我打扫卫生了？ (Zěnme yòu lún dào wǒ dǎsǎo wèishēngle?) 打扫卫生 (dǎsǎo wèishēng) is “to clean up” and 轮到 (lún dào) “it's someone's turn to do something” 轮到 (lún dào). |
| 轮到我打扫卫生了 (lún dào wǒ dǎsǎo wèishēngle) “It's my turn to clean up again? I cannot believe it.” And we see 怎么, 怎么 (zěnme, zěnme), it’s “How come?”, so how come it's my turn to clean up again? |
| And 第三个 (dì sān gè) “the third one…” |
| 下星期我又要去出差。 (Xià xīngqī wǒ yòu yào qù chūchāi.) 去出差 (qù chūchāi) means “to be on a business trip”. So “Next week, I will be on a business trip again.”. That's too much. I'm not happy about that. |
| Here, you may have noticed that there is a time phrase that's used in a future tense - 下星期 (xià xīngqī) “next week” and 要去干什么 (yào qù gànshénme) means “to be going to do something”. But didn't you say, 又 (yoù) is used in a past tense most of the time? Why would we use it in a future tense here? Well, let's understand it this way, I got the news that I'm going to be on a business trip again so I'm not happy with what I heard or what I know. I'm going to be on a business trip again, I already know that and I'm not happy I'm going to do that again, that's why we're using 又 (yoù) here instead of 再 (zaì). If you put 我再要去出差 (wǒ zaì yào qù chūchāi), it doesn't work here so just remember to use 又要去干什么 (yoù yào qù gànshénme) “I’m going to do something again.”. 又要去出差 (yòu yào qù chūchāi), all right. |
| For 再 (zaì), when you use 再 (zaì), you usually put it in imperative sentences to make suggestions or to make commands. Like - 我们再练习一遍，怎么样？ (Wǒmen zài liànxí yībiàn, zěnme yàng?) 练习 (liànxí) is “to practice”. “Let's practice again, how about that?” 怎么样 (zěnme yàng) is “How is that? / How about it?”. It’s different from 怎么 (zěnme), it’s “How come?” and 怎么样 (zěnme yàng) is “How is that?”. How about we practice again? That's a suggestion so we use 再 (zaì). |
| And 第二个 (dì èr gè)... |
| 失败了再来，总有一天会成功的。 (Shībàile zàilái, zǒng yǒu yītiān huì chénggōng de.) 失败了 (shībàile) is “to fail / to have failed”, 再来 (zàilái) is “to do it one more time / to do it again”, and 总有一天 (zǒng yǒu yītiān), 一天 (yītiān) “one day”, 总有一天 (zǒng yǒu yītiān) is “Eventually one day, you will succeed.”. So it's like encouragement, I encourage you to try again when you fail - 失败了再来 (Shībàile zàilái). |
| Next sentence is mostly likely you're going to hear it from your boss who is pretty tough or in a very commanding tone. |
| 二十分钟后再来见我。 (Èrshí fēnzhōng hòu zàilái jiàn wǒ.) 二十分钟后再来见我。 (Èrshí fēnzhōng hòu zàilái jiàn wǒ.) “In 20 minutes, come back and see me in 20 minutes.” So that's the tone’s difference. |
| So the difference between these words are pretty obvious now. Let's move on to the quiz section. Would you use 又 (yoù) or 再 (zaì) in the following sentences? |
| The first one… |
| 妹妹吃了一个苹果，什么吃了一个香蕉。 (Mèimei chīle yīgè píngguǒ, shénme chīle yīgè xiāngjiāo.) |
| 吃了 (chīle), 吃了 (chīle) “ate” so “She ate an apple and she ate a banana.”. So it has happened. The action is 吃 (chī) and 吃了 (chīle) means “ate” so we use 又 (yoù) here because it has happened. |
| “She ate an apple and ate a banana.” 妹妹 (mèimei) is “younger sister” okay. |
| The second one… |
| 香蕉好吃，你就什么吃一个吧！ (Xiāngjiāo hào chī, nǐ jiù shénme chī yīgè ba!) 香蕉 (xiāngjiāo) “banana”. “The banana tastes good...”, then “eat one more”, and here 吧 (ba). |
| You see this end of word particle a lot in sentences when you're making suggestions. Like - 我们走吧！ (Wǒmen zǒu ba!) “Let’s go!”, 吧 (ba), here. |
| So this here,they're making or I am making suggestions, “If the banana tastes good, then you eat one more.” You want it to happen again. I want you to have a banana again. So it's 再 (zaì), 再吃一个 (zaì chī yīgè), 再吃一点儿 (zài chī yīdiǎnr), okay. |
| Next one… |
| 你什么犯这样的错误，老板会发火的。 (Nǐ shénme fàn zhèyàng de cuòwù, lǎobǎn huì fāhuǒ de.) 会 (huì) “going to” and the boss is going to be angry. 发火 (fāhuǒ) means “to get angry”, 火 (huǒ) is “fire”, to get on fire, he's going to be enraged if you make this mistake again. 犯这样的错误 (fàn zhèyàng de cuòwù) “make this kind of mistake again”. So if you do it again in the future, we use 再 (zaì) here, 你再犯这样的错误，老板会发火的 (Nǐ zaì fàn zhèyàng de cuòwù, lǎobǎn huì fāhuǒ de.). 小心一点哦。 (Xiǎoxīn yīdiǎn o.) “Be careful.” |
| Next one 第四个 (dì sì gè)... |
| 我昨天去了一次，今天什么去了一次。 (Wǒ zuótiān qùle yīcì, jīntiān shénme qùle yīcì.) It's kind of similar to the first one - 吃了，吃了 (chīle, chīle) and 去了，去了 (qùle, qùle) So it has happened. “I went there yesterday and today I went there again.” So 今天又去了一次 (jīntiān shénme qùle yīcì). |
| Compared to the fourth one, the fifth one has the same first part. |
| 我昨天去了一次 (Wǒ zuótiān qùle yīcì), 明天 (míngtiān) “tomorrow” so tomorrow is going to happen, I'm going to 去看看 (qù kàn kàn) “to take a look / to check it out”. “Tomorrow, I'm going to check it out again.” So tomorrow is going to happen. This thing, I'm going to check it out tomorrow, so 再 (zaì). |
| Okay, so today we talked about the differences between 又 (yoù) and 再 (zaì). Do you understand the differences now? If you like our lesson as usual, give us a big thumbs up and subscribe to our channel. Well, I'll see you in the next lesson. Bye-bye! 大家再见。 (Dàjiā zàijiàn.) |
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