Distributive Redu

Fundamentally, you are repeating a word immediately. But specific word types change the meaning differently. If you repeat an adjective, you are often pluralizing the noun it modifies (without making the noun plural). If you repeat a pronoun (like question words), you are demanding a list, not a single answer. If you repeat a verb participle, you are showing a continuous action or something happening "in the meantime." It is all about *scope*. A single word is a dot; a repeated word is a line or a cloud.

1. 1The formula is deceptively simple, but don't let your guard down.
2. 2Adjectives: Adjective + Adjective (Agrees with noun gender/number).
3. 3* Example: achhe achhe (various good ones).
4. 4Interrogatives: Question Word + Question Word.
5. 5* Example: kya kya (what exactly/list of things).
6. 6Nouns: Noun + Noun.
7. 7* Example: ghar ghar (house to house / every house).
8. 8Participles (Verbs): Verb stem + ta + Verb stem + ta (Usually masculine oblique e ending).
9. 9* Example: chalte chalte (while walking).

Use this when you want to be specific about variety. If you say mujhe sev do (give me an apple), you get one. If you say mujhe lal lal sev do, you want specifically the red ones (implying a selection from a pile). Use it when asking questions where you expect a list. Tumne kya khaya? implies one dish. Tumne kya kya khaya? implies a buffet report. Use the verb form to describe background actions. "I thought of this *while sitting*" (baithe baithe).

Don't use it when you are talking about a single, specific entity. You wouldn't say yeh mera dost dost hai (this is my friend friend). That sounds like you are broken. Also, avoid it if the context is already strictly singular. If you strictly want *one* good book, don't ask for achhi achhi kitabein (good books). Just ask for ek achhi kitaab.

The biggest trap is the "Singular Trap." Learners often use kaun (who) when addressing a group. If you walk into a room of people, you ask kaun kaun aaya hai? (who all has come?), not just kaun aaya hai?. Another mistake is over-translating. garam garam chai isn't "hot hot tea"; it's "freshly hot tea." Don't translate literally; translate the *feeling*.

This is not the same as "Echo Words" (chai-wai). Echo words imply "tea and stuff like that." Reduplication (chai chai - though rare for nouns unless emphatic) means specifically "tea and more tea." Also, distinct from emphasis where you stretch the vowel (bahaaaat - very). Here, the repetition performs a grammatical function (plurality/distribution), not just an emotional one.