Learn Hardcore Chinese: Tā wánzhe wánzhe, jiù bù juéde wúliáo le. - As she played and played, she no longer felt bored.

玩着 ≈ “be playing / in the middle of playing”
玩着玩着 highlights that she is in the process of playing over some stretch of time, not just starting or finishing.

There is both 着 and 了 in the same sentence. Isn’t that contradictory?

They are doing different jobs and can coexist:

着 (in 玩着) marks an ongoing process:
→ “(She) is in the middle of playing.”
了 (in 无聊了) marks a change of state:
→ “(She) is now no longer bored (different from before).”

So the logic is:

While she was continuously playing (玩着玩着),
A new situation appeared: she no longer felt bored (不觉得无聊了).

No contradiction: one describes the ongoing action; the other describes the new resulting state.

Why is it 不觉得无聊了 and not 没觉得无聊了?

不 and 没 both negate verbs, but they have different typical uses:

不: habitual, general, or present/future state; also commonly used with mental verbs (think, feel) for “not” / “no longer”.
没: past events, completed actions, or “didn’t happen / hasn’t happened”.

In 不觉得无聊了:

觉得 is a mental/state verb: “to feel, to think”.
We are talking about her current state after a change:
“(Now) she doesn’t feel bored anymore.”

So 不觉得无聊了 naturally means:

“She no longer feels bored now.”
“She doesn’t feel bored (anymore).”

没觉得无聊 would sound more like:

“She didn’t feel bored (at that time / didn’t have the feeling of boredom).”

With 了 marking change, 不 fits better to express: she has stopped feeling bored.

What does 就 (jiù) add here? Could we omit it?

就 is an adverb that often marks:

Result, consequence, or natural outcome:
- “then”, “as a result”, “so”, “right then”

In 玩着玩着，就不觉得无聊了:

就 links the process (玩着玩着) with the result (不觉得无聊了).
It suggests: as a natural consequence of playing for a while, she then stopped feeling bored.

If you omit it:

她玩着玩着，不觉得无聊了。

This is still understandable, but:

The connection between “playing” and “not bored anymore” feels less explicit.
With 就, the sentence flows more naturally and sounds more idiomatic.

Why is there a 了 after 无聊? What is the difference between 无聊 and 无聊了?

无聊 by itself = “bored” (state), with no clear beginning or change.
无聊了 = “has become bored” / “(is) now bored” or “is not bored anymore” when negated.

In this sentence we have 不觉得无聊了:

The 了 is a sentence-final change-of-state marker.
Together with 不, it means: “She is no longer in the state of boredom; that state has changed.”

So:

她不觉得无聊。
“She doesn’t feel bored.” (just a neutral statement)
她不觉得无聊了。
“She doesn’t feel bored anymore (now).”
“She’s not bored anymore.”

Is 她玩着玩着 a complete clause, or is something missing?

On its own, 她玩着玩着 is understood but feels incomplete in normal speech/writing:

It sets up a background situation: “As she kept playing…”
We expect a result or main event to follow.

That is exactly what happens:

她玩着玩着，就不觉得无聊了。
“As she kept playing, she then no longer felt bored.”

So:

Grammatically, 她玩着玩着 is the adverbial / background part.
The full clause needs the following 就不觉得无聊了 to feel complete.

Can we use this V 着 V 着，就… pattern with other verbs, or only with 玩?

You can use this pattern with many verbs, especially actions that can continue over time. Some common examples:

走着走着，就迷路了。
“As (we) kept walking, (we) ended up getting lost.”
聊着聊着，就天黑了。
“As (we) kept chatting, it became dark.”
看着看着，就睡着了。
“As (he) kept watching, he fell asleep.”

General pattern:

Subject + V 着 V 着，就 + New situation / result + 了

Meaning: “As [subject] kept V-ing, then [new result] occurred.”

What is the difference between 玩着玩着 and 玩玩?

Both involve repetition, but they have different functions:

玩着玩着 (V 着 V 着):
- Emphasizes a continuous action over some time.
- Often leads into an unexpected or new result.
- Pattern: V 着 V 着，就…
玩玩 (V V, without 着):
- A verb reduplication for a brief or light action:
  - “play a bit / play for fun / give it a try”
- Example:
  你去玩玩吧。 – “Go play a bit.”

So:

她玩着玩着，就不觉得无聊了。
“As she kept playing, she stopped feeling bored.”
她玩玩，就不觉得无聊了。
Would sound more like: “She just played a bit and then didn’t feel bored.”
→ Less about a long, continuous process and more about a short try.

How would you capture the nuance of this Chinese sentence in natural English?

Some natural English renderings that keep the nuance of 玩着玩着，就… + 了:

“As she kept playing, she stopped feeling bored.”
“After she played for a while, she didn’t feel bored anymore.”
“While she was playing, she gradually stopped feeling bored.”

All of these reflect:

Ongoing action (玩着玩着)
→ leading to
A changed state (不觉得无聊了: “no longer bored”).