Fixed Patterns: 越来越, 又…又, 该…了, 还是…吧

Chinese grammar · HSK 2 · 固定格式 · By Carson 木林森

1. 越来越 + Adj/V — getting more and more… - 天气越来越冷。(The weather is getting colder and colder.)

越来越 yuè lái yuè more and more 又 yòu (once) again 该 gāi should 了 le (completed action marker) 还是 hái shi still (as before) 吧 ba bar (loanword) (serving drinks, or providin…

2. 又…又… — both…and… (simultaneous qualities/actions)
- 她又聪明又漂亮。(She is both smart and pretty.)
- Use same subject for both VPs.

3. 该…了 — it's time to… / should now…
- 该睡觉了。(It's time to sleep.)
- 该 = should (due to time/circumstance)

4. 还是…吧 — you'd better… / it's best to…
- 还是坐公共汽车吧。(You'd better take the bus.)
- Softer than 应该, implies advice/mild pressure.

Worked examples

Chinese	Pinyin	English	What it shows
他的中文越来越好了。	Tā de zhōng wén yuè lái yuè hǎo le.	His Chinese is getting better and better.	越来越 + Adj shows progressive change; 了 at end signals new situation
这个苹果又大又甜。	Zhè ge píng guǒ yòu dà yòu tián.	This apple is both big and sweet.	又…又… links two simultaneous adjectives about the same subject
已经九点了，该去学校了。	Yǐ jīng jiǔ diǎn le, gāi qù xué xiào le.	It's already 9 o'clock; it's time to go to school.	该…了 signals that the time for an action has arrived

Produce this pattern without stopping to think about it. GraphChinese drills Fixed Patterns across 12 exercises and schedules the review that keeps it.

What this opens up

These patterns list Fixed Patterns among their own prerequisites, so they become readable once this one holds.

越来越…

Fixed Patterns is one topic of 829. GraphChinese teaches them in prerequisite order, so this pattern reaches you on the day everything it rests on is proven. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.

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