HSK 5 grammar · pattern
X什么X
X什么X — "what do you mean, X?" (brushing it off)
Pattern
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( ) can be left out · other words may come before, between and after
How it works
Repeating a word around 什么 throws it back at the other person as unreasonable or unnecessary — 急什么急 "what's the rush?", 哭什么哭 "stop crying". It is blunt and belongs between people who know each other well; said to a stranger or a superior it is rude. Distinguish it from X什么, which questions the thing itself rather than dismissing the act.
Examples
急什么急，时间还早呢。
Jí shénme jí, shíjiān hái zǎo ne.
What's the rush? It's still early.
哭什么哭，事情还没到那一步。
Kū shénme kū, shìqing hái méi dào nà yí bù.
What are you crying for? It hasn't come to that.
谢什么谢，都是一家人。
Xiè shénme xiè, dōu shì yì jiā rén.
No need to thank me — we're family.
Related
See it in a story
In the app, X什么X is underlined wherever it appears in the stories you read, and practised with sentences from them. Free.