一下?

urbandweller
February 24, 2008, 07:57 AM posted in General Discussion

my new practical chinese reader says "these characters are used after a verb to indicate a short, quick, random, informal action"

anybody have any other good advice or examples of how exactly this works? Are there any c-pod lessons i can check out that use 一下?

 -亚当

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sebastian
February 24, 2008, 08:06 AM

I usually use 一下 to make mild suggestions. For example: 看一下 - have a look! 试一下 - try it! 我来介绍一下 - let me introduce...

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urbandweller
February 24, 2008, 08:10 AM

so you could say that 一下 softens the tone of of a request...so that it dosen't sound so damanding...dosen't the particle "ba" have the same function?

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RJ
February 24, 2008, 09:35 AM

我出去一下 - I go out for a little while. More a description of degree than a softening I think.

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sebastian
February 24, 2008, 09:57 AM

Yes, one meaning of 一下 is "a while" or "once". Another meaning is "try" or "attempt" and that can be used for mild suggestions. A third meaning is "all of a sudden" or "at once". For example: 孩子一下从房子里跑出来.

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tvan
February 24, 2008, 02:34 PM

Or maybe a short time as in "等一下/DěngYiXìa".

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cassielin
February 25, 2008, 01:55 PM

When you want someone to smile ,you can say 笑一下xiao4 yi1xia4 笑=smile If you want to do some warming up before a race, you can 跑一下pao3 yi1xia4 跑=run If you want to know /test the flexibility of the athletic shoes, you can跳一下tiao4 yi1xia4 跳=jump If someone get in your way, you can say (请)让一下(qing3)rang4 yi1xia4 让=move If you want someone to explain something, you can say 你能解释一下吗?=Can you explain it? 解释一下jie3shi4 yi1xia4 解释=explain Hope it can help. cassie o(∩_∩)o