<p>Indeed, in spoken Chinese of our time, it is SELDOM for native speakers to utter those adjectives. Those appear almost only in Literature and even can be considered pedantic.</p>

<p>We don't say "那個人有點古里古怪的", but say "那個人有點怪怪的". </p>

<p>So I would suggest, if your goal is to speak and understand spoken Chinese, against spending time on figuring out the pattern you are studying.</p>

<p><strong>Note</strong>. Thanks to the suggestions made, as the OP would see, the present answer by no means serves as a universal one.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-07T14:02:28.130Z
People from north China do say "那個人有點古里古怪的". "那個人有點怪怪的" sounds like typical Taiwan dialect but I could be wrong.
Wang Dingwei
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-08T01:15:36.600Z
I second to @WangDingwei that it's commonly used in Northern China and/including Shanghai area.
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-07T12:56:44.937Z
2014-11-08T01:33:10.670Z
2014-11-08T01:33:10.670Z
Yes
<p>such as 怪里怪气、古里古怪,it means weird。I don't know more patterns like this, because this is a fixed collocation.
We use 古怪 in our life more than 古里古怪。
1.他是一个古怪的人。
2.这个房间真的古里古怪。
3.这个房间真古怪。（= sentence #3)</p>

<p>Btw, the derivation A里AB is wrong.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-07T11:59:46.977Z
What is wrong with the derivation?
meireikei
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-07T11:02:42.537Z
2014-11-07T11:02:42.537Z
Allen
<p>This pattern, like you mentioned, seems to be referred to as <code>&quot;A里AB&quot;式</code> in Chinese.</p>
<p>A quick search came up with the following list of <a href="http://cidian.911cha.com/jiegou_alab.html" rel="noreferrer">words</a>:</p>
<pre><code>糊里糊涂hū lǐ hū tú
怪里怪气guài lǐ guài qì
流里流气liú lǐ liú qì
傻里傻气shǎ lǐ shǎ qì
土里土气tǔ lǐ tǔ qì
慌里慌张huāng lǐ huāng zhāng
妖里妖气yāo lǐ yāo qì
彻里彻外chè lǐ chè wài
胡里胡涂hú lǐ hú tú
没里没外méi lǐ méi wài
秀里秀气xiù lǐ xiù qì
歇里歇松xiē lǐ xiē sōng
小里小气xiǎo lǐ xiǎo qì
打里打外dǎ lǐ dǎ wài
蹀里蹀斜dié lǐ dié xié
疙里疙瘩gē lǐ gē dā
古里古怪gǔ lǐ gǔ guài
鬼里鬼气guǐ lǐ guǐ qì
火里火发huǒ lǐ huǒ fā
楞里楞气léng lǐ léng qì
啰里啰唆luō lǐ luō suō
蒙里蒙懂méng lǐ měng dǒng
噗里噗通pū lǐ pū tōng
痞里痞气pǐ lǐ pǐ qì
</code></pre>
<p>There also seems to be a couple of studies about this speech pattern:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.chinadmd.com/file/xtoveraopoczvu6twvazoi6t_1.html" rel="noreferrer">浅谈“A里AB式”</a></p>
<p><a href="http://cdmd.cnki.com.cn/Article/CDMD-10319-1011401012.htm" rel="noreferrer">现代汉语“A里AB”格式的研究</a></p>
<p>but that's all a bit pedantic for our needs...(although you can be sure it is a <strong>set</strong> pattern)</p>
<p>It seems like you have already explained it pretty clearly as well:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>According to my book, there is a pattern for building further adjectives from adjectives. If the original adjective is AB (two different characters), its derivation is A里AB.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr />
<p>as for the meaning:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>...意义并未改变。例如 ： 马虎， 意思为做事不认真 。变为　</p>
<p>“ Ａ里 Ａ Ｂ式 ” 马里 马 虎 ， 思 同样 为 做 事 不 认 真....<em><a href="http://www.chinadmd.com/file/xtoveraopoczvu6twvazoi6t_1.html" rel="noreferrer">浅谈“A里AB式”</a></em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The meaning does not change. For example: 马虎 and 马里马虎 both mean 做事不认真.</p>
<p>AB and A里AB mean the same - with a stronger sound/meaning on the A里AB than the simple AB pattern.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-08T03:28:15.017Z
Excellent answer. A里AB a stronger and fancier, but only to a small degree. It's mainly used in speech and informal writing. Also there is a A里BC pattern, like 花里胡哨, 稀里糊涂, or 下里巴人(WRONG!).
Wang Dingwei
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-07T12:35:34.627Z
2014-11-07T12:41:13.977Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Mou某
<p>According to my book, there is a pattern for building further adjectives from adjectives.
If the original adjective is AB (two different characters), its derivation is A里AB.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, this pattern was only displayed as an example, but not explained.</p>

<grammar><difference><word>
What is the difference between 古怪 and 古里古怪?
# What is the difference between 古怪 and 古里古怪?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-11-07)

According to my book, there is a pattern for building further adjectives from adjectives.
If the original adjective is AB (two different characters), its derivation is A里AB.

Unfortunately, this pattern was only displayed as an example, but not explained.

**Tags:** grammar, difference, word


---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2014-11-07. Score: 13 | Accepted answer

This pattern, like you mentioned, seems to be referred to as `"A里AB"式` in Chinese.

A quick search came up with the following list of [words](http://cidian.911cha.com/jiegou_alab.html):

```
糊里糊涂hū lǐ hū tú
怪里怪气guài lǐ guài qì
流里流气liú lǐ liú qì
傻里傻气shǎ lǐ shǎ qì
土里土气tǔ lǐ tǔ qì
慌里慌张huāng lǐ huāng zhāng
妖里妖气yāo lǐ yāo qì
彻里彻外chè lǐ chè wài
胡里胡涂hú lǐ hú tú
没里没外méi lǐ méi wài
秀里秀气xiù lǐ xiù qì
歇里歇松xiē lǐ xiē sōng
小里小气xiǎo lǐ xiǎo qì
打里打外dǎ lǐ dǎ wài
蹀里蹀斜dié lǐ dié xié
疙里疙瘩gē lǐ gē dā
古里古怪gǔ lǐ gǔ guài
鬼里鬼气guǐ lǐ guǐ qì
火里火发huǒ lǐ huǒ fā
楞里楞气léng lǐ léng qì
啰里啰唆luō lǐ luō suō
蒙里蒙懂méng lǐ měng dǒng
噗里噗通pū lǐ pū tōng
痞里痞气pǐ lǐ pǐ qì

```

There also seems to be a couple of studies about this speech pattern:

[浅谈“A里AB式”](http://www.chinadmd.com/file/xtoveraopoczvu6twvazoi6t_1.html)

[现代汉语“A里AB”格式的研究](http://cdmd.cnki.com.cn/Article/CDMD-10319-1011401012.htm)

but that's all a bit pedantic for our needs...(although you can be sure it is a **set** pattern)

It seems like you have already explained it pretty clearly as well:

> According to my book, there is a pattern for building further adjectives from adjectives. If the original adjective is AB (two different characters), its derivation is A里AB.

---

as for the meaning:

> ...意义并未改变。例如 ： 马虎， 意思为做事不认真 。变为
>
> “ Ａ里 Ａ Ｂ式 ” 马里 马 虎 ， 思 同样 为 做 事 不 认 真....*[浅谈“A里AB式”](http://www.chinadmd.com/file/xtoveraopoczvu6twvazoi6t_1.html)*

The meaning does not change. For example: 马虎 and 马里马虎 both mean 做事不认真.

AB and A里AB mean the same - with a stronger sound/meaning on the A里AB than the simple AB pattern.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Excellent answer. A里AB a stronger and fancier, but only to a small degree. It's mainly used in speech and informal writing. Also there is a A里BC pattern, like 花里胡哨, 稀里糊涂, or 下里巴人(WRONG!).  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-11-07. Score: 2

Indeed, in spoken Chinese of our time, it is SELDOM for native speakers to utter those adjectives. Those appear almost only in Literature and even can be considered pedantic.

We don't say "那個人有點古里古怪的", but say "那個人有點怪怪的".

So I would suggest, if your goal is to speak and understand spoken Chinese, against spending time on figuring out the pattern you are studying.

**Note**. Thanks to the suggestions made, as the OP would see, the present answer by no means serves as a universal one.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: People from north China do say "那個人有點古里古怪的". "那個人有點怪怪的" sounds like typical Taiwan dialect but I could be wrong.  
> **username_3**: I second to @username_2 that it's commonly used in Northern China and/including Shanghai area.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2014-11-07. Score: 0

such as 怪里怪气、古里古怪,it means weird。I don't know more patterns like this, because this is a fixed collocation.
We use 古怪 in our life more than 古里古怪。
1.他是一个古怪的人。
2.这个房间真的古里古怪。
3.这个房间真古怪。（= sentence #3)

Btw, the derivation A里AB is wrong.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: What is wrong with the derivation?  

---

