Chapter 4 / Part 2

Pairs of Antonyms

1. 不。。。不。。。 bu...bu... (neither...nor...)
Ex: 他不高不矮, 不胖不瘦。(Antonyms: 高 gāo- 矮 ǎi, 胖 pàng - 瘦 shòu)
tā bù gāo bù ǎi, bú pàng bú shòu.
He is neither tall nor short, neither fat nor skinny.

2. 不但不/没。。。反而。。。búdànbù/méi...fǎnér... (not only not...but rather...)
Ex: 他不但没笑反而哭了。(Antonyms: 哭 kū- 笑 xiào)
tā bùdan bù xiào, fǎnér kū le.
Not only did he not laugh, he cried instead.

Below you will find an example of vocabulary word formed by repeating a pair of antonyms, that we name it AABB form. This pair of antonyms are both one-syllabic words.

For example, the pair of anytonyms 大 dà, big and 小 xiǎo, small can be used in this pattern and change into: 大大小小 dàdàxiǎoxiǎo, meaning big and small. See the sentence below:
Ex: 地上有大大小小的石头。
dìshàng yǒu dàdàxiǎoxiǎo de shítou.
There are small and big stones on the ground.