<p>"<strong>你的身体会告诉你</strong> <em>(Your body will tell you)</em> <strong>'你应该做什么'</strong> <em>(what should you do)</em>" is indeed grammatically correct. However, consider three '你' in one sentence, especially two '你' back to back just look weird. </p>

<p>A better writer would rephrase it to make reading easier, for example:  "<strong>你的身体会讓你知道</strong> <em>(your body will let you know)</em> <strong>你应该做什么</strong> <em>(what you should do)</em>" </p>

<p>or </p>

<p>" <strong>'你应该做什么'</strong>(topic), <strong>你的身体会告诉你</strong>(comment)"</p>

<p>Note:</p>

<p>"有人告诉你你很漂亮" (the first 你 is the object, the second 你 is the subject of the relative clause)</p>

<p>"父親告訴我我出生時的事" (the first 我 is the object, the second 我 is the subject of the relative clause) </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T12:22:52.177Z
2017-11-08T12:41:30.393Z
2017-11-08T12:41:30.393Z
Tang Ho
<p>Yes. <strong>你的身体会告诉你你应该做什么</strong> is technically right. Usually if we have to say the sentence like this, there will be a comma between the double <strong>你</strong>. The first <strong>你</strong> is the object of <strong>告訴</strong>, and the second one is the subject of the clause.</p>

<p>However this is just one of the meanings of the sentence. We emphasize the importance of the subject of the clause, <strong>你</strong>, by not omitting it. The thing, which "what to do" implies, should be done by you.</p>

<p>On the other hand, another meaning of <strong>你的身体会告诉你应该做什么</strong> is that we don't care about "who" is going to do something. Instead, we put the point at "what" should be done. In this case, you can't put double <strong>你</strong> inside the sentence. Because <strong>应该做什么</strong> is the second object of <strong>告诉</strong>. Just like the "story" in the following example.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>我告诉你一个故事。   I tell you a story</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Another example:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><strong>我告诉你将要发生的事。</strong></p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <ol>
    <li><p>我告诉你-你将要发生的事。</p>
    
    <p>I will tell you what will happen <strong>to you</strong>. </p></li>
    <li><p>我告诉你-将要发生的事。</p>
    
    <p>I will tell you what will happen. Maybe happen to the country, to your friends, or unspecific ones.</p></li>
    </ol>
  </blockquote>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-10T04:38:43.273Z
2017-11-10T04:38:43.273Z
newacc2240
<p>Compare the two sentences:</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol>
  <li><p>你的身体会告诉你应该做什么。 </p></li>
  <li><p>你的身体会告诉你你应该做什么。</p></li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>Sentence 2 is wordy because of that double 你. It's not a good style. </p>

<p>Sentence 1 could be parsed as: </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>你的身体会告诉<strong>你</strong> -- 应该做什么。 // Your body will tell <strong>you</strong> -- what to do.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-09T09:16:41.760Z
告訴 as a transitive verb. A is not a appropriate one.
newacc2240
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-10T00:18:36.177Z
Whether 告诉 is a transitive or not is not the point. It's just how you parse the sentence. Like you could parse the sentence 我告诉你 as 我--告诉--你.
dan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-10T02:21:44.547Z
只能是 B，A 是错的，哪来的这种语法？ **告诉**后面必须跟名词。
xenophōn
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-10T03:38:52.950Z
No, it matters. The object of 告訴 should always be a person, or a thing but personified, and cannot be omitted at anytime.
newacc2240
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-10T08:47:12.437Z
I deleted A to satisfy you guys, though I think it's ok to take '你应该做什么' as object,
dan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T13:36:52.387Z
2017-11-10T08:43:34.803Z
2017-11-10T08:43:34.803Z
dan
<p>A <a href="http://www.youdao.com/example/%E8%BA%AB%E4%BD%93/#keyfrom=dict2.top" rel="nofollow noreferrer">YouDao.com</a> example sentence:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>你的身体会告诉<strong>你</strong>应该做什么<br>
  Your body will tell you what to do<br>
  <sub>Nǐ de shēntǐ huì gàosù nǐ yīnggāi zuò shénme</sub></p>
</blockquote>

<p>The sentence makes sense to me, except that:</p>

<ul>
<li>会告诉<strong>你</strong> = will tell you,</li>
<li><strong>你</strong>应该做什么 = what you should do</li>
</ul>

<p>but the sentence only contains one 你 in 会告诉你应该做什么.</p>

<p>So it seems like it should be written:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>你的身体会告诉<strong>你你</strong>应该做什么</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>Question</strong>: Should the second 你 in 你的身体会告诉你应该做什么 actually be 你你?</p>

<p>I'm not sure if this is a mistake, some kind of abbreviation (or something more suitable in spoken Chinese), or perhaps we can conclude from context that 应该做什么 means 你应该做什么.  Or maybe something else.</p>

<p>I see we don't have two "you"s in the English, so perhaps an alternative translation is:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Your body will tell you what should be done.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>But this doesn't clarify if two 你s are better than one.  In English, it (arguably) sounds better as:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Your body will tell you what you should do</p>
</blockquote>

<p>which has two "you"s.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T12:23:08.323Z
there would be nothing unusual about 你你 instead of a single 你, find many examples, searching ichacha with 你你, e.g. 有人告诉你你很漂亮    having someone tell you that you’re beautiful,susan告诉我许多关于你你的事    susan has told me a great deal about you, besides personal pronouns are often omitted when meaning is clear from context
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T12:33:02.653Z
Your first example sentence illustrated 你你 is not unusual in certain context,  but "Susan 告诉我许多关于你你的事" is not a correct example . there's no need to add a second '你' in  "Susan 告诉我许多关于你的事"
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T12:38:22.430Z
of course users may wonder whether there should not be a comma between the 2 你 (about you and your matters), anyhow there are many more examples at ichacha
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-09T17:23:08.850Z
You are right. People will have no problem understanding if you use double
 你. But the last "你" is generally omitted as it is clear by context. And if you use double 你 in speaking, you need to have a very short pause between the two
jf328
<grammar><word-choice>
Should the second 你 in 你的身体会告诉你应该做什么 actually be 你你?
# Should the second 你 in 你的身体会告诉你应该做什么 actually be 你你?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-11-08)

A [YouDao.com](http://www.youdao.com/example/%E8%BA%AB%E4%BD%93/#keyfrom=dict2.top) example sentence:

> 你的身体会告诉**你**应该做什么  
> Your body will tell you what to do  
> Nǐ de shēntǐ huì gàosù nǐ yīnggāi zuò shénme

The sentence makes sense to me, except that:

* 会告诉**你** = will tell you,
* **你**应该做什么 = what you should do

but the sentence only contains one 你 in 会告诉你应该做什么.

So it seems like it should be written:

> 你的身体会告诉**你你**应该做什么

**Question**: Should the second 你 in 你的身体会告诉你应该做什么 actually be 你你?

I'm not sure if this is a mistake, some kind of abbreviation (or something more suitable in spoken Chinese), or perhaps we can conclude from context that 应该做什么 means 你应该做什么. Or maybe something else.

I see we don't have two "you"s in the English, so perhaps an alternative translation is:

> Your body will tell you what should be done.

But this doesn't clarify if two 你s are better than one. In English, it (arguably) sounds better as:

> Your body will tell you what you should do

which has two "you"s.

**Tags:** grammar, word-choice

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: there would be nothing unusual about 你你 instead of a single 你, find many examples, searching ichacha with 你你, e.g. 有人告诉你你很漂亮    having someone tell you that you’re beautiful,susan告诉我许多关于你你的事    susan has told me a great deal about you, besides personal pronouns are often omitted when meaning is clear from context  
> **username_2**: Your first example sentence illustrated 你你 is not unusual in certain context,  but "Susan 告诉我许多关于你你的事" is not a correct example . there's no need to add a second '你' in  "Susan 告诉我许多关于你的事"  
> **username_1**: of course users may wonder whether there should not be a comma between the 2 你 (about you and your matters), anyhow there are many more examples at ichacha  
> **username_3**: You are right. People will have no problem understanding if you use double  你. But the last "你" is generally omitted as it is clear by context. And if you use double 你 in speaking, you need to have a very short pause between the two  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-11-08. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

"**你的身体会告诉你** *(Your body will tell you)* **'你应该做什么'** *(what should you do)*" is indeed grammatically correct. However, consider three '你' in one sentence, especially two '你' back to back just look weird.

A better writer would rephrase it to make reading easier, for example: "**你的身体会讓你知道** *(your body will let you know)* **你应该做什么** *(what you should do)*"

or

" **'你应该做什么'**(topic), **你的身体会告诉你**(comment)"

Note:

"有人告诉你你很漂亮" (the first 你 is the object, the second 你 is the subject of the relative clause)

"父親告訴我我出生時的事" (the first 我 is the object, the second 我 is the subject of the relative clause)


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2017-11-10. Score: 1

Yes. **你的身体会告诉你你应该做什么** is technically right. Usually if we have to say the sentence like this, there will be a comma between the double **你**. The first **你** is the object of **告訴**, and the second one is the subject of the clause.

However this is just one of the meanings of the sentence. We emphasize the importance of the subject of the clause, **你**, by not omitting it. The thing, which "what to do" implies, should be done by you.

On the other hand, another meaning of **你的身体会告诉你应该做什么** is that we don't care about "who" is going to do something. Instead, we put the point at "what" should be done. In this case, you can't put double **你** inside the sentence. Because **应该做什么** is the second object of **告诉**. Just like the "story" in the following example.

> 我告诉你一个故事。 I tell you a story

Another example:

> **我告诉你将要发生的事。**
>
> > 1. 我告诉你-你将要发生的事。
> >
> >    I will tell you what will happen **to you**.
> > 2. 我告诉你-将要发生的事。
> >
> >    I will tell you what will happen. Maybe happen to the country, to your friends, or unspecific ones.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2017-11-08. Score: 0

Compare the two sentences:

> 1. 你的身体会告诉你应该做什么。
> 2. 你的身体会告诉你你应该做什么。

Sentence 2 is wordy because of that double 你. It's not a good style.

Sentence 1 could be parsed as:

> 你的身体会告诉**你** -- 应该做什么。 // Your body will tell **you** -- what to do.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: 告訴 as a transitive verb. A is not a appropriate one.  
> **username_5**: Whether 告诉 is a transitive or not is not the point. It's just how you parse the sentence. Like you could parse the sentence 我告诉你 as 我--告诉--你.  
> **username_6**: 只能是 B，A 是错的，哪来的这种语法？ **告诉**后面必须跟名词。  
> **username_4**: No, it matters. The object of 告訴 should always be a person, or a thing but personified, and cannot be omitted at anytime.  
> **username_5**: I deleted A to satisfy you guys, though I think it's ok to take '你应该做什么' as object,  

---

