Dan
Professional Teacher
The differences between 常常and经常.

Many Chinese learners think 常常and 经常are the same . Please remember 经常 can use either in positive sentences or in negative sentences,but 常常 usually only use in positive sentences. 我不常常说中文is not a good sentence.

Feb 5, 2015 12:39 PM
Comments · 5

Wow. Great. 常 can be used in the future and also can be an adjective to decorate a noun.

我会常去你家的。  他们吵架是常事。

February 6, 2015

经常 can also be used in the future, 常常 can't.

经常 can also be used as an adjective, 常常 can't.

 

How about just 常?

February 6, 2015

Yes , 常 can ues in negative sentences as well as positive sentences.  我常说中文 and 我不常说中文 both are correct.

February 6, 2015

Great information! I'd like to piggyback on what you said. 我不常常说中文is not a good sentence, but we will say 我不常說中文。 You can use 常常 in positive sentence and 不常 in negative sentence.

February 5, 2015

Great, thank you!  That is good to know, because I see them used interchangeably, but I never considered the negation of each...

February 5, 2015