わ〜わ
~and ~and, Keep ~ing, One after another, So much, So many, One after the other
Structure
(*) The same verb has to be repeated
Explanation
わ is an adverbial particle used to place special stress or focus on an action. When placed after the dictionary form of a repeated verb, it expresses that something happens in great quantity, repeatedly, or to a growing degree. It is often translated as 'so much (A)', '(A) on and on', or '(A) more and more'. The わ～わ pattern can express either positive or negative feelings.
The structure is formed by adding わ after a verb, and then repeating that same verb and わ again.
- すごい雪だったね。朝から降るわ降るわで、結局50センチも積もったよ。The snow was incredible, wasn't it? It just kept snowing and snowing since this morning, and in the end, 50 centimeters piled up.
- この公園の桜はすごいね。見て、咲くわ咲くわ、どこもかしこも満開だ。The cherry blossoms in this park are amazing! Look, they're just blooming everywhere; they're in full bloom all over the place.
- 彼女は本当に洋服が好きで、セールに行くと買うわ買うわで、いつも部屋が服でいっぱいだ。She really loves clothes. Whenever she goes to a sale, she buys and buys until her room is always full of them.
The main purpose of わ～わ is to convey the speaker's astonishment at the sheer volume or degree of the action. While this expression is most often used by men, it is sometimes used by women as well. Be aware that other uses of わ in different sentence positions carry distinct gendered nuances that should be learned separately.
When using わ～わ with a する verb, it is common to omit the noun part of the second verb, leaving just する. For example, instead of 勉強するわ勉強するわ, the phrase is shortened to 勉強するわするわ.
- この会社に入ってから、毎日残業するわするわで、体がもたないよ。Ever since I joined this company, I work so much overtime every day that my body can't take it anymore.
Fun Fact
わ is actually a more emphatic form of the adverbial particle は, having evolved from a sound change. Because of this, you can think of its core meaning as a heightened version of は's 'as for...' function. The repetition then further intensifies this focus, creating a nuance like 'as for (doing A), they just kept on (doing A)!'
Examples
「彼は食べるわ食べるわで、あっという間にテーブルの上が空になった。」
He ate so much and so fast that the table was empty in no time.
「うちの部長は、文句を言うわ言うわで、こっちのやる気がなくなる。」
My department manager just keeps complaining, and it completely drains my motivation.
「彼女はセールで服を買うわ買うわ、気づけばカードの限度額を超えていた。」
She just kept buying one piece of clothing after another at the sale; before she knew it, she had maxed out her credit card.
「キャンプに行ったら、蚊に刺されるわ刺されるわで、かゆくて眠れなかった。」
When I went camping, I was bitten by mosquitoes so many times that I couldn't sleep from the itching.
「新人の頃は、仕事で間違えるわ間違えるわで、よく上司に叱られたものだ。」
When I was a newcomer, I kept making one mistake after another at work, and my boss used to scold me often.
「朝から電話が鳴るわ鳴るわで、全然仕事に集中できない。」
My phone has been ringing off the hook since this morning, and I can't concentrate on my work at all.