# 又 and 再 Mark Repetition 2,482 Times

> 又 and 再 stand before the verb in 2,482 clauses of the Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified), dividing repetition into what has already happened again and what is still to happen again.

**Pattern:** 又 + verb (happened again) · 再 + verb (will happen again)
**HSK level:** 2 — the highest HSK level of the point's own function words, as data/dict.json grades them; a word the HSK lists do not grade sends the point to 'beyond'
**Rule used to find it:** 又 or 再 immediately before a word with a verb sense.
**Confidence:** counted — 30 of 2,482 matches checked, 100% correct, by Claude Opus 5, reading each sampled clause in context; not a native speaker

English has one again. Chinese has two and the split is by time: 又 repeats something that already happened, 再 repeats something that has not happened yet. 他又说 is he said again; 不要再叫雅各 is do not be called Jacob any more.

The Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified) uses 又 2,819 times, 再 302 times. 639 of those occurrences are the same words doing something else.

又 is far the commoner of the two here, because most of this book is narrative looking backwards. It also chains: 又大又美, both great and good, where the repetition is of the description rather than the action.

It is commonest in Genesis, with 188 of them, and 71% of all of them fall in the Old Testament — which is mostly a statement about length, since the Old Testament is the longer part of the book.

## Examples

- **1 Kings 2:14** — 又说：「我有话对你说。」拔示巴说：「你说吧。」
  - yòu shuō ：「 wǒ yǒu huà duì nǐ shuō 。」 bá shì bā shuō ：「 nǐ shuō ba 。」
  - He said moreover, I have something to tell you.” She said, “Say on.”
  - construction: 又说
- **Luke 13:20** — 又说：「我拿什么来比 神的国呢？
  - yòu shuō ：「 wǒ ná shén me lái bǐ   shén de guó ne ？
  - Again he said, “To what shall I compare God’s Kingdom?
  - construction: 又说
- **Genesis 6:1** — 当人在世上多起来、又生女儿的时候，
  - dāng rén zài shì shàng duō qǐ lái 、 yòu shēng nǚ ér de shí hou ，
  - When men began to multiply on the surface of the ground, and daughters were born to them,
  - construction: 又生
- **Mark 8:13** — 他就离开他们，又上船往海那边去了。
  - tā jiù lí kāi tā men ， yòu shàng chuán wǎng hǎi nà bian qù le 。
  - He left them, and again entering into the boat, departed to the other side.
  - construction: 又上船
- **James 2:3** — 你们就重看那穿华美衣服的人，说：「请坐在这好位上」；又对那穷人说：「你站在那里」，或「坐在我脚凳下边。」
  - nǐ men jiù zhòng kàn nà chuān huá měi yī fu de rén ， shuō ：「 qǐng zuò zài zhè hǎo wèi shàng 」； yòu duì nà qióng rén shuō ：「 nǐ zhàn zài nà li 」， huò 「 zuò zài wǒ jiǎo dèng xià bian 。」
  - and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing and say, “Sit here in a good place;” and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool”
  - construction: 又对
- **Hebrews 12:19** — 角声与说话的声音。那些听见这声音的，都求不要再向他们说话；
  - jiǎo shēng yǔ shuō huà de shēng yīn 。 nà xiē tīng jiàn zhè shēng yīn de ， dōu qiú bú yào zài xiàng tā men shuō huà ；
  - the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which those who heard it begged that not one more word should be spoken to them,
  - construction: 再向

## The words this point is built on

| Word | Reading | HSK | Occurrences |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 又 | yòu | 2 | 2,819 |
| 再 | zài | 1 | 302 |

The HSK column is the level data/dict.json gives the word, and it is what puts this point at level 2.

## What those occurrences are doing

|  | Occurrences | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| the construction | 2,482 | 80% |
| the same words doing something else | 639 | 20% |

## Where it occurs most

| Book | Clauses |
| --- | --- |
| Genesis | 188 |
| Luke | 131 |
| 2 Chronicles | 128 |
| Ezekiel | 116 |
| Exodus | 108 |

Counted from what the rule matched, before the audit — a ranking, not a published total.

## Questions

**Which one goes with a negative?**

再, in the pattern 不再 — not any more. 又 with a negative says something failed to happen a second time, which is a different claim.

**How often does it occur in the Chinese Bible?**

2,482 clauses in the Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified), out of 3,121 occurrences of the words that mark it.

**Which book of the Bible uses it most?**

Genesis, with 188 — followed by Luke (131), 2 Chronicles (128), Ezekiel (116).

**How do you know the count is right?**

The rule is: 又 or 再 immediately before a word with a verb sense. 30 of its 2,482 matches were drawn at random and checked one by one; 100% were right. Recall is not measured, so the figure is what this rule finds, not everything the translation contains.

Page: https://chinese-bible.com/en/grammar/you-zai

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