How to use 足足
足足 + verb + quantity; verb + 足足 + quantity
足足 draws attention to the full extent of a stated amount. It often suggests that a duration, size, or quantity is substantial or exceeds what someone might expect. English may use a full, no less than, or simply emphatic stress. The expression relies on an amount being available in the sentence, rather than intensifying a quality without measurement.
足足 can come before the verb or nearer the quantity, depending on the structure. Verbs involving existence, waiting, or spending time often provide natural contexts. Keep the numerical phrase and its measure word complete. The expression highlights the amount; it does not by itself say whether the experience was good, frustrating, impressive, or exhausting.
Examples with pinyin and English
我们足足走了五个小时。
We walked for a full five hours.
足足 emphasizes the full duration before the verb.
这张桌子有足足三米长。
This table is a full three meters long.
足足 appears directly before the measured quantity.
她等了足足半天。
She waited for a full half day.
The emphasis falls on how long the wait lasted.
What to remember
- Include an explicit measurable amount.
- Place 足足 before the verb or the quantity as appropriate.
- Let context supply the speaker's reaction to the amount.
Practise the pattern
Use one example as a model. Change the people, objects or situation, keeping the grammar pattern in the same order. Read the explanation again to check how your sentence uses the construction.
Look up the grammar words
Source and editorial notes
Explanation and examples written for Laowai using the grammar curriculum as a topic reference. The original curriculum credits AllSet Learning’s Chinese Grammar Wiki as used with permission. Read the retained source credits.
Difficulty labels describe the level of the explanation; they are not official HSK placement. Send a correction with this page’s URL.