HSK 4 grammar · pattern
一X是一X
…一X是一X — each bit counts / take it as it comes
Pattern
+ + + + +
( ) can be left out · other words may come before, between and after
How it works
V 一X是一X takes each single unit as it comes and treats it as gain or fact — "get what you can, each one counts", "one at a time". It shows a settle-for-what-you-get, no-illusions attitude.
Examples
能省一点是一点。
Néng shěng yìdiǎn shì yìdiǎn.
Save whatever you can — every bit counts.
卖一个是一个，别挑了。
Mài yí ge shì yí ge, bié tiāo le.
Sell them one by one and take what you get; stop being picky.
日子过一天是一天。
Rìzi guò yì tiān shì yì tiān.
We get through the days one at a time.
Related
See it in a story
In the app, 一X是一X is underlined wherever it appears in the stories you read, and practised with sentences from them. Free.