sensushi
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ては〜ては details

Examples

does X and then Y, again and again — a two-step cycle, often a futile or wearying one

原稿げんこうを書かいては消けし、書かいては消けして、とうとう朝あさになった。

genkou o kaite wa keshi, kaite wa keshite, toutou asa ni natta.

I wrote and deleted, wrote and deleted, and in the end it was morning. neutral

あの子こ、おもちゃを買かっては飽あき、買かっては飽あきての繰くり返かえしなんだよ。

ano ko, omocha o katte wa aki, katte wa akite no kurikaeshi na n da yo.

That kid buys a toy, gets bored with it, buys another, gets bored — it's the same thing over and over. casual

試作品しさくひんは、作つくっては壊こわし、作つくっては壊こわしを繰くり返かえしてまいりました。

shisakuhin wa, tsukutte wa kowashi, tsukutte wa kowashi o kurikaeshite mairimashita.

With the prototypes, we built and scrapped, built and scrapped, again and again. formal

Formation

Notes

The second verb usually stands in the 連用形れんようけい (書かいては消けし) so the
pair can loop, and only the last predicate carries tense. Order is fixed:
波なみが寄よせては返かえす is the wave rolling in then back out.

Related patterns

Similar

  • たり〜たりする

    たり〜たり samples an unordered set, so swapping its two conjuncts changes nothing; ては〜ては fixes the order of exactly two actions into a loop — 書かいては消けし and 消けしては書かき describe different scenes.

Lookalikes

  • てはいけない

    Same ては, but てはいけない is lexicalised prohibition whose は is always followed by a negative-evaluation predicate; in ては〜ては the ては is a bare repetition joint carrying no evaluation at all, so meeting 〜ては mid-sentence tells you nothing about whether a ban follows.

Same meaning

over and over — the same two steps looping

no other patterns in this meaning class yet