In Chinese, the literal meaning of “等 (děnɡ)” means wait for a moment. For example, “等一分钟 (děnɡ yì fēnzhōng)” waiting for a minute. The expression “等等 (děnɡděnɡ)” except the meaning of “waiting for a while”, is commonly used after two or more coordinate words to indicate that the list is unfinished. It is equal to “… and so on” in English. In the conversation below, Anna bought a lot of things for the New Year, and she used “等等 (děnɡděnɡ)” to tell Peter that there were something else as well.
1. Waiting for a while
Micheal:
Chí dào le ， wǒ men kuài diǎnr ！
迟 到 了 ， 我 们 快 点 儿 ！
Alice:
děng děng wǒ ， nǐ zǒu de tài kuài le ！
等 等 我 ， 你 走 的 太 快 了 ！
Here it’s the same as 等会儿（děng huìr ）and 等一下(děng yí xià ). All of them are means waiting for a while.
2. …… and so on.
Example:
Peter: nǐ gěi chūn jié zhǔn bèi le shén me ？
你 给 春 节 准 备 了 什 么 ？
What will you prepare for New Year?
Anna: wǒ yào mǎi hěn duō dōng xi ，shuǐguǒ ，ròu ,shū cài ,děng děng 。
我 要 买 很 多 东 西 ， 水 果 ，肉 ，蔬 菜 ,等 等 。
I will buy many things, fruits, meat, vegetables, and so on.
Husband: nǐ mǎi le zhè me duō yī fu a ？
你 买 了 这 么 多 衣 服 啊 ？
You bought so many clothes!
Wife: shāng chǎng lǐ de yī fu dōu zài gǎo huó dòng ,wǒ jiù mǎi le máo yī,qún zi ， děng děng.
商 场 里 的 衣 服 都 在 搞 活 动 ，我 就买了 毛 衣 ,裙 子 ， 等 等 。
All the clothes in the mall are on sale, so I bought sweater, skirt, Coat, shoes, and so on.
Study the phrases carefully, and with enough practice, you can master the use of “等 (děnɡ)” as well as master other key phrases in the Chinese language.