The structure …着…着
The structure indicates that a situation occurred due to some action that was done or repeated over a period of time.
Scheme
verb
着
verb
着
就
situation
了
The adverb is placed after the second verb and indicates that the situation occurs immediately after the repeated action. The particle is placed at the end of a sentence to emphasize that the situation has changed.
Examples
她说着说着就哭起来了
She burst into tears while talking
tā shuō zhe shuō zhe jiù kū qǐlái le
我躺在床上看电视,看着看着就睡着了
I fell asleep while watching TV in my bed
wǒ tǎng zài chuángshàng kàn diànshì, kàn zhe kàn zhe jiù shuìzháo le
我在北京的胡同里走着走着就走丢了
I got lost walking in the hutongs of Beijing
wǒ zài běijīng de hútòng lǐ zǒu zhe zǒu zhe jiù zǒu diū le
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