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In this dialogue:

A: 现在恢复得怎么样了？
B: 没问题了，又可以爬山了。

Why is 又 used there and not 再?

As far as I know (I might be wrong), both 再 and 又 are used for describing recurring actions, but 又 refers to actions that took place in the past and 再 refers to future actions. So in the example, 可以爬山 (I can climb mountains) seems a future event (needs to go to a mountain first).

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  • have you seen how the answers disagree? did you simply choose the one with the most upvotes?
    – magnetar
    Jan 28, 2012 at 14:57
  • @magnetar, point taken. My mistake was rushing to select it.
    – dusan
    Jan 28, 2012 at 17:57
  • Good question. I make no mistake as to when to use which but I cannot explain. Makes me wonder how the brain works.
    – George Chen
    Sep 15, 2014 at 0:04

5 Answers 5

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Here, "又" means: "I am able to climb mountains again".

It is not a past or future event. "又可以" here is to show ability.

It implies, "I was able to climb mountains before the (illness), and I've now recovered, and I am able to climb mountains again".

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  • +1 if i understand you right, the nuance here is that 又 is adding emphasis, right?
    – magnetar
    Jan 28, 2012 at 14:54
  • Now that you mentioned it, I think it can be treated as adding emphasis.
    – fefe
    Jan 29, 2012 at 13:15
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In my opinion,

  • 再 foresees the future, as in 再见.

  • 又 emphasis 'once more', as in "又可以爬山了"

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  • +1 that's the way it feels to me. i am not a native speaker though. but in classical it seems to have this meaning, as in 玄之又玄
    – magnetar
    Jan 28, 2012 at 14:52
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This 又 "yòu" is more like "also" in this example. "I'm all right now, and I can climb mountains, too."

Probably most similar to the "yòu... yòu..." (both...and...) pattern.

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3
  • I don't think this has anything to do with "also".
    – fefe
    Jan 25, 2012 at 0:50
  • -1 this answer seems to disagree with the consensus by the native speakers on here.
    – magnetar
    Jan 28, 2012 at 14:55
  • 1
    Answers given to learners of Chinese are useful when they allow the learner to make the right word choice. I think that thinking of this structure in this way does that.
    – Terry Waltz
    Feb 4, 2012 at 18:45
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又 has the connotation of "there you go again." That is, of repeating a past action in the present.

再 is anticipatory: That is, planning to repeat a present action in the future. 再见, used for "good-bye," literally means "see you AGAIN," (soon). It is the equivalent of the French au revoir or the German auf Wiedersehen.

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Your question： Why is 又 used there and not 再 in the above sentence?

First, you need to know the difference of 再 and 又.

1) 再 means“again”，can be used to repeat the same action in the future which haven’t happened yet; 2) 又 means “again” too, but is used for the past to emphasize the event had already happened.

For example:

服务员，再来一杯啤酒。 When I finished a cup of beer, I want to order one more, I can say “Waiter, one more, please.” So here I should use “再”。

老师，可以再说一次吗？ The teacher had asked me a question, but she spoke very fast and I didn’t get it, here I can say “Teacher, could you please say it again?” The teacher haven’t said it again yet, So here is “再”。

你怎么又迟到了？ Yesterday I was late, my boss was a little bit angry, and today I was late again, he asked me “Why did you late again?” I was late, this event had happened this morning, so here we should use “又”。

我这次又没通过考试。 Last time I didn’t pass the exam, and this time I failed again. I got my report and I knew I didn’t pass the exam either. So here we use “又”。

So you need to use "又" in this dialogue.

A: 现在恢复得怎么样了？

B: 没问题了，又可以爬山了。

If you want to know more about how to use "再" and "又"？Please check the free video.

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