Tight sentences: 你想去你去, 不睡觉也要写完
【四59】复句 / complex sentences
Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral
A tight sentence (紧缩复句) packs two predicates into one sentence with no conjunction (no 如果, 因为, 但是) and almost no pause. The link (condition, contrast, cause) is read from context and from the repeated pronoun: 你想去你去 (if you want to go, go), 你有事你先走 (if you have something on, go ahead), 你不怕我怕 (you aren't scared, but I am). It is lively, short and rhythmic speech, like the expression 说干就干.
不 + V1 + 也 + 要 + V2 is a tight sentence of its own: the speaker accepts a cost to reach a goal. 我不睡觉也要把作文写完: even if I have to give up sleep, I will finish my essay. The goal is introduced by 要 (or 得), which shows determination. Without 要, 不……也…… simply means "even without doing X, Y": 你不说我也知道.
Not to be mixed up with 即使……也…… (a hypothesis set up with a connector) or 宁可……也…… (a choice between two evils, HSK 5): here no word announces the concession.
Examples
你想去你去，我不去。
Nǐ xiǎng qù nǐ qù, wǒ bú qù.Go if you want to, I'm not going.
你不怕我怕。
Nǐ bú pà wǒ pà.You may not be scared, but I am.
你有事你先走，不用等我。
Nǐ yǒu shì nǐ xiān zǒu, búyòng děng wǒ.If you have something on, go first, no need to wait for me.
你不说我也知道。
Nǐ bù shuō wǒ yě zhīdào.Even if you don't say it, I know.
今天晚上我不睡觉也要把作文写完。
Jīntiān wǎnshang wǒ bú shuìjiào yě yào bǎ zuòwén xiě wán.Tonight I will finish this essay even if I don't sleep.
孩子发烧了，妈妈不吃饭也要先带他去医院。
Háizi fāshāo le, māma bù chī fàn yě yào xiān dài tā qù yīyuàn.The child has a fever, so his mother will take him to the hospital first, even if she has to skip her meal.
Common mistakes
✗ 不睡觉也把作文写完 → ✓ 不睡觉也要把作文写完 (the intended goal needs 要 to show determination).
✗ 你有事，你先走了 → ✓ 你有事你先走 (no 了: the second part is an invitation, not a report).
✗ 你不怕我也怕 → ✓ 你不怕我怕 (我也怕 means "me too" and cancels the contrast).