一来二去

一來二去

yīlái'èrqù

idiom #84,238

Meanings

1 over the course of repeated interactions
2 gradually; little by little
3 with back-and-forth contact

Characters

Examples

一来二去，两个人成了好朋友。

Yī lái èr qù, liǎng ge rén chéng le hǎo péngyou.

With one visit after another, the two of them became good friends.

一来二去，他也学会了几句中文。

Yī lái èr qù, tā yě xuéhuì le jǐ jù Zhōngwén.

After enough back-and-forth, he even picked up some Chinese.

一来二去，误会慢慢解开了。

Yī lái èr qù, wùhuì mànmàn jiěkāi le.

Over time, the misunderstanding gradually cleared up.

Tips

history

Attested in 《红楼梦》 ch. 58: '一来二去，两个人就装糊涂了' — 'over repeated exchanges the two of them played dumb'. Qing novels fixed this colloquial rhythm as a canonical idiom.

usage

Almost always sentence-initial, describing a gradual outcome that emerges from repeated small interactions. Pairs well with verbs like 熟了, 成了, 学会了.

Stroke Order

一 yī

来 lái

二 èr

去 qù