越来越 and 越…越: more and more
天气越来越冷 (colder and colder); 越看越喜欢 (the more I look, the more I like it).
Part of the free B1 Chinese course (about HSK 4). Examples are in Simplified characters, with pinyin only for some new or hard words; press the speaker to hear one with your device's Chinese voice.
越来越: more and more
越来越 (yuèláiyuè) + adjective = getting more and more … over time. A 了 at the end often marks the change.
- 天气越来越冷了。It's getting colder and colder.
- 我越来越喜欢北京了。I like Beijing more and more.
It also works with verbs of feeling and ability (喜欢, 想, 懂, 会) and inside a 得 complement (得: how well, how fast):
- 他的中文说得越来越好。His Chinese is getting better and better.
越 A 越 B: the more A, the more B
- 雨越下越大。The rain is getting heavier and heavier.
- 你越说，我越糊涂。(hútu)The more you talk, the more confused I get.
- 这本小说我越看越喜欢。The more I read this novel, the more I like it.
Short fixed phrases are common: 越快越好 (the sooner the better), 越多越好, 越便宜越好.
- 这件事越快越好。The sooner this gets done, the better.
No 很 after 越
越 already says "more", so it is never followed by 很, 非常 or 太.
| Right | Wrong |
|---|---|
| 越来越冷 | |
| 越说越快 |
"More and more" is 越来越, not 更: 更 compares two things (比: bigger, smaller, the same), 越来越 describes a trend.
Common mistakes
天气越来越很冷。→ 天气越来越冷。No 很 after 越.越来越天气冷了。→ 天气越来越冷了。The subject comes first.他越来越跑得快。→ 他跑得越来越快。Less natural: with 得, 越来越 goes inside the complement.我越来越学中文。→ 我越来越喜欢学中文, or 我的中文越来越好。越来越 needs an adjective or a verb of feeling or ability, not a plain action verb.更来更冷→ 越来越冷.
Practice
- 我的中文_____好了。Options: 越来越 · 更来更 · 越更
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越来越 — 越来越 + adjective.
- 这个城市变得越来_____漂亮。
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越 — 越来越.
- Which is correct?Options: 东西越来越贵了。 · 东西越来越很贵了。 · 越来越东西贵了。
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东西越来越贵了。 — Subject first, then 越来越 + adjective, with no 很.
- 他越想_____生气。
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越 — 越 A 越 B.