断断续续

斷斷續續
duànduànxùxù
adverb HSK 7-9 #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

HSK 3
Wàimiàn duànduànxùxù xià le yīzhěngtiān de yǔ.
It rained on and off outside all day.
HSK 7-9
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