Why 又 is used there instead of 再?

Question

In this dialogue:

A: 现在恢复得怎么样了？
B: 没问题了，又可以爬山了。

Why is 又 used there and not 再?

As far as I know (I might be wrong), both 再 and 又 are used for describing recurring actions, but 又 refers to actions that took place in the past and 再 refers to future actions. So in the example, 可以爬山 (I can climb mountains) seems a future event (needs to go to a mountain first).

have you seen how the answers disagree? did you simply choose the one with the most upvotes? — magnetar, Jan 28 '12 at 14:57
@magnetar, point taken. My mistake was rushing to select it. — dusan, Jan 28 '12 at 17:57
Good question. I make no mistake as to when to use which but I cannot explain. Makes me wonder how the brain works. — George Chen, Sep 15 '14 at 00:04

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 22 '12 at 02:05

8

Here, "又" means: "I am able to climb mountains again".

It is not a past or future event. "又可以" here is to show ability.

It implies, "I was able to climb mountains before the (illness), and I've now recovered, and I am able to climb mountains again".

answered Jan 22 '12 at 02:05

fefe

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+1 if i understand you right, the nuance here is that 又 is adding emphasis, right? – magnetar Jan 28 '12 at 14:54
Now that you mentioned it, I think it can be treated as adding emphasis. – fefe Jan 29 '12 at 13:15

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 24 '12 at 19:34

7

In my opinion,

再 foresees the future, as in 再见.
又 emphasis 'once more', as in "又可以爬山了"

answered Jan 24 '12 at 19:34

Laguna

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+1 that's the way it feels to me. i am not a native speaker though. but in classical it seems to have this meaning, as in 玄之又玄 – magnetar Jan 28 '12 at 14:52

score 2 · Answer 3 · edited Jan 22 '12 at 11:01

2

This 又 "yòu" is more like "also" in this example. "I'm all right now, and I can climb mountains, too."

Probably most similar to the "yòu... yòu..." (both...and...) pattern.

edited Jan 22 '12 at 11:01

Alenanno

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answered Jan 22 '12 at 01:04

Terry Waltz

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I don't think this has anything to do with "also". – fefe Jan 25 '12 at 00:50
-1 this answer seems to disagree with the consensus by the native speakers on here. – magnetar Jan 28 '12 at 14:55
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Answers given to learners of Chinese are useful when they allow the learner to make the right word choice. I think that thinking of this structure in this way does that. – Terry Waltz Feb 04 '12 at 18:45

Tom Au · Answer 4 · 2014-09-13T22:36:22.390

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又 has the connotation of "there you go again." That is, of repeating a past action in the present.

再 is anticipatory: That is, planning to repeat a present action in the future. 再见, used for "good-bye," literally means "see you AGAIN," (soon). It is the equivalent of the French au revoir or the German auf Wiedersehen.

edited Sep 13 '14 at 22:36

answered Jan 27 '12 at 14:49

Tom Au

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score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 19 '16 at 03:09

Your question： Why is 又 used there and not 再 in the above sentence?

First, you need to know the difference of 再 and 又.

1) 再 means“again”，can be used to repeat the same action in the future which haven’t happened yet; 2) 又 means “again” too, but is used for the past to emphasize the event had already happened.

For example:

服务员，再来一杯啤酒。 When I finished a cup of beer, I want to order one more, I can say “Waiter, one more, please.” So here I should use “再”。

老师，可以再说一次吗？ The teacher had asked me a question, but she spoke very fast and I didn’t get it, here I can say “Teacher, could you please say it again?” The teacher haven’t said it again yet, So here is “再”。

你怎么又迟到了？ Yesterday I was late, my boss was a little bit angry, and today I was late again, he asked me “Why did you late again?” I was late, this event had happened this morning, so here we should use “又”。

我这次又没通过考试。 Last time I didn’t pass the exam, and this time I failed again. I got my report and I knew I didn’t pass the exam either. So here we use “又”。

So you need to use "又" in this dialogue.

A: 现在恢复得怎么样了？

B: 没问题了，又可以爬山了。

If you want to know more about how to use "再" and "又"？Please check the free video.

Why 又 is used there instead of 再?

5 Answers5