Why does 试试 not mean “try twice”? #chineselanguage #mandarin #learnchinese

Added: 2026-05-06

[00:00:00]Shì means to try or to test. In the character shì, the left side is yán, the speech radical. Full yán becomes the printed left side radical yán. You often see it in words about speech and language. Yǔ, language. Huà, [snorts] speech or words. Qǐng, ask or please.

[00:00:22]The right side, shì, mostly helps with the sound.

[00:00:26]When the verb repeats, shì becomes shìshi. It does not mean try twice. It becomes softer. Give it a try. Try a bit. Go ahead and try.

[00:00:36]For example, wǒ shìshi means I'll try.