<p>The reason you're being asked this question is to make sure you are aware of the common grammar error:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><s>你看书多久？</s><br />
<s>你看书多久了？</s></p>
</blockquote>
<p>What's wrong?  The verb 看 is <em>overloaded</em> by taking on both an object 书 and a duration 多久 at the same time.  It also needs a 了, but that's more complicated; see <a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_duration_with_%22le%22" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Expressing duration with &quot;le&quot;</a>.</p>
<p>Grammatically correct ways of phrasing the sentence were given by Tang Ho <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/51280/when-using-%e5%a4%9a%e4%b9%85-should-i-repeat-the-verb#comment70018_51280">in the comments</a>.  In particular:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>你看书看了多久？</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This way the first 看 has the object 书 and the second 看 has the duration 多久, so the verb 看 is not overloaded.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>你看了多久书？<br />
你看了多久的书？</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Here 看 only takes on the object 书.  The 多久 is being used to modify 书 (an attributive); there's a hidden 的 in there.</p>
<p>Other possibilities are:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>你书看了多久？<br />
这本书，你看了多久？<br />
你花了多久时间看书？</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There's surely other ways to phrase this too, but in every case we need to avoid the overloaded verb problem.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-04T02:59:43.130Z
"你花了多久看书"?  If you use "花了", you need to add "时间", "time", (a noun), as 花了 and 看书 are both verbs. So, a noun 时间 is needed for the verb. Thus 你花了多久时间看书?
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-04T03:01:04.723Z
Thanks for your correction!  I didn't know that.
Becky 李蓓
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-24T03:14:52.293Z
2022-06-04T03:00:28.230Z
2022-06-04T03:00:28.230Z
Becky 李蓓
<p>多久 can be used to express the duration of action and inaction, and their structures are different.</p>
<p>1 Duration of actions</p>
<p>The typical structures are Subject + verb + object + verb + 了 + 多久 +了 or Subject + Verb + 了 + 多久 +了</p>
<p>你看电视看了多久了？  你看了多久了？ How long have you watching TV?</p>
<p>他们跑步跑了多久了？  他们跑了多久了？ How long have they been running?</p>
<pre><code>              你工作了多久了？ How long have you been working?
</code></pre>
<p>2 Duration of inaction.</p>
<p>The typical structures are Subject+多久+没（没有）+Verb+object+了 or Subject+多久+没（没有）+Verb+了</p>
<p>你多久没做饭了？  How long has it been since your cooked last time?</p>
<p>他们多久没来北京了？How long has it been since they came to Beijing last time?</p>
<p>我们多久没有看电影了？How long has it been since we watched a movie last time?</p>
<p>你多久没跑了？ How long has it been since you ran last time?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-24T02:16:41.540Z
You probably know, 'how come' is another way of saying 'why'. Similarly, 'how long' can often be changed for 'when'. I would rewrite "How long has it been since your cooked last time?" as "When was the last time you cooked?", "How long has it been since they came to Beijing last time?" When was the last time they came to Beijing?", "How long has it been since we watched a movie last time?" "When was the last time we watched a movie?",  "How long has it been since you ran last time?", "When was the last time you went running?" Just a tip! (Well 4 tips!)
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-23T23:38:02.370Z
2022-05-23T23:38:02.370Z
Henryfrombeijing
<p>First of all, what is 你看书  supposed to mean?</p>
<p>If you mean,<br />
&quot;Can you read?&quot;<br />
你认识字吗？</p>
<p>If you mean,<br />
&quot;When did you start  reading books?&quot;<br />
你什么时候开始会读书的？</p>
<p>If you mean, &quot;I've got nothing to read! What can I read?&quot; I proffer a tome and say:<br />
&quot;Read this book.&quot;<br />
看这本书吧。</p>
<p>If you mean, I interrupted you while you were reading, you are angry and want to read. I say,<br />
&quot;Doesn't matter, carry on reading.&quot;<br />
没事，你看书吧。</p>
<p>If you mean,<br />
&quot;How long have you been reading books?&quot;<br />
你看书看了多久了？</p>
<p>If you mean,<br />
&quot;How long have you been reading this book?&quot;<br />
你看这本书看了多久了？</p>
<p>If you mean,<br />
“When you read a book, how long do you normally read for, before you stop reading?”<br />
当你阅读一本书时，你通常会阅读多长时间才停止阅读？<br />
当你阅读一本书时，你通常会阅读多久才停止阅读？</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-24T02:20:06.937Z
2022-05-24T02:20:06.937Z
Pedroski
<p>多久 means &quot;how long&quot;.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>你看书看了<strong>多久</strong> - How long have you been reading the book?</p>
</li>
<li><p>你<strong>多久</strong>沒看书了 - How long have you not read a book?</p>
</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-03T16:30:27.580Z
你多久没看书了？ is more natural.
Edward Ji
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-03T16:46:10.770Z
@SpearAndShield You are correct. Thanks.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-23T21:04:37.940Z
2022-06-03T16:45:34.737Z
2022-06-03T16:45:34.737Z
r13
<p>Change the sentence into a question with 多久。
1。 你看书。</p>
<p>Is it 你看书看多久？ or 你看书多久？
and are there any exceptions to this language pattern?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-23T21:20:57.793Z
either 你看书看了多久 or 你看了多久书
Tang Ho
<grammar><sentence-structure>
When using 多久, should I repeat the verb?
# When using 多久, should I repeat the verb?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-05-23)

Change the sentence into a question with 多久。
1。 你看书。

Is it 你看书看多久？ or 你看书多久？
and are there any exceptions to this language pattern?

**Tags:** grammar, sentence-structure

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: either 你看书看了多久 or 你看了多久书  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2022-05-24. Score: 1

The reason you're being asked this question is to make sure you are aware of the common grammar error:

> ~~你看书多久？~~  
> ~~你看书多久了？~~

What's wrong? The verb 看 is *overloaded* by taking on both an object 书 and a duration 多久 at the same time. It also needs a 了, but that's more complicated; see [Expressing duration with "le"](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_duration_with_%22le%22).

Grammatically correct ways of phrasing the sentence were given by username_1 Ho [in the comments](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/51280/when-using-%e5%a4%9a%e4%b9%85-should-i-repeat-the-verb#comment70018_51280). In particular:

> 你看书看了多久？

This way the first 看 has the object 书 and the second 看 has the duration 多久, so the verb 看 is not overloaded.

> 你看了多久书？  
> 你看了多久的书？

Here 看 only takes on the object 书. The 多久 is being used to modify 书 (an attributive); there's a hidden 的 in there.

Other possibilities are:

> 你书看了多久？  
> 这本书，你看了多久？  
> 你花了多久时间看书？

There's surely other ways to phrase this too, but in every case we need to avoid the overloaded verb problem.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: "你花了多久看书"?  If you use "花了", you need to add "时间", "time", (a noun), as 花了 and 看书 are both verbs. So, a noun 时间 is needed for the verb. Thus 你花了多久时间看书?  
> **username_2**: Thanks for your correction!  I didn't know that.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2022-05-23. Score: 0

多久 can be used to express the duration of action and inaction, and their structures are different.

1 Duration of actions

The typical structures are Subject + verb + object + verb + 了 + 多久 +了 or Subject + Verb + 了 + 多久 +了

你看电视看了多久了？ 你看了多久了？ How long have you watching TV?

他们跑步跑了多久了？ 他们跑了多久了？ How long have they been running?

```
              你工作了多久了？ How long have you been working?

```

2 Duration of inaction.

The typical structures are Subject+多久+没（没有）+Verb+object+了 or Subject+多久+没（没有）+Verb+了

你多久没做饭了？ How long has it been since your cooked last time?

他们多久没来北京了？How long has it been since they came to Beijing last time?

我们多久没有看电影了？How long has it been since we watched a movie last time?

你多久没跑了？ How long has it been since you ran last time?

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: You probably know, 'how come' is another way of saying 'why'. Similarly, 'how long' can often be changed for 'when'. I would rewrite "How long has it been since your cooked last time?" as "When was the last time you cooked?", "How long has it been since they came to Beijing last time?" When was the last time they came to Beijing?", "How long has it been since we watched a movie last time?" "When was the last time we watched a movie?",  "How long has it been since you ran last time?", "When was the last time you went running?" Just a tip! (Well 4 tips!)  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2022-05-24. Score: 0

First of all, what is 你看书 supposed to mean?

If you mean,  
"Can you read?"  
你认识字吗？

If you mean,  
"When did you start reading books?"  
你什么时候开始会读书的？

If you mean, "I've got nothing to read! What can I read?" I proffer a tome and say:  
"Read this book."  
看这本书吧。

If you mean, I interrupted you while you were reading, you are angry and want to read. I say,  
"Doesn't matter, carry on reading."  
没事，你看书吧。

If you mean,  
"How long have you been reading books?"  
你看书看了多久了？

If you mean,  
"How long have you been reading this book?"  
你看这本书看了多久了？

If you mean,  
“When you read a book, how long do you normally read for, before you stop reading?”  
当你阅读一本书时，你通常会阅读多长时间才停止阅读？  
当你阅读一本书时，你通常会阅读多久才停止阅读？


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2022-05-23. Score: 0

多久 means "how long".

* 你看书看了**多久** - How long have you been reading the book?
* 你**多久**沒看书了 - How long have you not read a book?

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: 你多久没看书了？ is more natural.  
> **username_6**: @SpearAndShield You are correct. Thanks.  

---

