断断续续

斷斷續續
duànduànxùxù
adverb HSK 7 #23,947

Meanings

  1. 1 intermittently
  2. 2 on and off
  3. 3 off and on

Characters

AABB pattern: 断断续续 — breaking and continuing, breaking and continuing — describes something intermittent.

Examples

Wàimiàn duànduànxùxù xià le yī zhěng tiān de yǔ.
It rained on and off outside all day.
Tā duànduànxùxù de jiǎngshù le shìqíng de jīngguò.
She described what happened in a halting, intermittent manner.

Tips

grammar
断断续续 follows the AABB reduplication pattern common in Chinese. It can be used as an adverb (断断续续 + verb) or as an adjective (断断续续 + noun).

Stroke Order

duàn