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Meaning: V back and forth / Come to speak of it / It seems
想来想去,我决定还是辞职。
Xiǎnglái xiǎngqù, wǒ juédìng háishi cízhí.
After thinking it over and over, I decided to resign after all.
说来惭愧,我至今未完成这本书。
Shuōlái cánkuì, wǒ zhìjīn wèi wánchéng zhè běn shū.
Ashamed to say, I still have not finished writing this book to this day.
看来今天又要加班了。
Kànlái jīntiān yòu yào jiābān le.
It seems that I will have to work overtime again today.
•Distinguish carefully: 看来 stands at the start of a clause to state an overall inference ("It seems that..."), whereas 看起来 typically follows a subject to describe appearance ("looks..."); 想来 means "presumably", whereas 想起来 means "recall from memory".
⚠️ Common Mistakes:
•Using V来V去 with incompatible verbs — V来V去 only works with certain monosyllabic action/mental verbs (想, 说, 走, 看, 找, 算).
•Confusing clause-initial inferential 看来 with subject-predicate descriptive 看起来.
•Confusing 想来 ("presumably") with 想起来
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Zhè jiàn shì shuōlái huà cháng, děng yǒukòng zài liáo.
This matter is a long story; let's talk about it when we have time.
•Breaking apart the fixed four-character idiom 说来话长 ("it's a long story").
