看看
kàn kàn
Reduplication of verbs
Doubling a verb makes the action brief and casual — "have a quick look".
Verb + Verb
How it works
你看看 is softer than 你看. Repetition takes the edge off a request and makes it sound like no trouble.
For two-syllable verbs the whole word doubles: 休息休息, 讨论讨论.
一 can be inserted for single-syllable verbs: 看一看, 试一试. 看一下 means much the same thing.
Examples
nǐ kàn kàn
你看看。
Take a look.
wǒ men xiū xi xiū xi ba
我们休息休息吧。
Let's take a little break.
nǐ shì shì zhè ge
你试试这个。
Give this a try.