Chinese Learning

The action-measure complement 遍, 次, 回, 趟

By ChineseSavvy

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      四个词都可以计量动作的次数。区别如下：
      Four words can express frequency of action. They are differentiated as follows:

1.“遍”强调动作从开始到结束的整个过程：
     "遍"emphasizes the completion of a course of action from start to finish:
    
     For examples:
     a.读了两遍课文（从头到尾，读两遍）。I read the text twice. (Emphasizes it is read twice in its entirety.)
     b.这部电影我看了三遍（从电影一开始到电影结束，看三遍）。I saw this movie three times. (Emphasizes it has been seen three times, from start to finish.)

2.“次”使用的范围最广，可以用于一切动作行为的次数。
     "次"has the widest scope. It can be used for any number of repetitions of an action.

3.“回”应用范围也比较广，但多用于口语。
     "回"has a similarly wide scope of applications, but is generally only used in spoken Chinese.

4.“趟”一般用于走动的次数，因此只与表示走动意义的动词结合使用，如走、跑、来、去等。
     "趟" is only used in verbs that involve movement. Therefore "趟" is only added to verbs with that sort of meaning, such as "walk," "run," "come," "go," etc.

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