diff --git a/cig.h b/cig.h
index fc09f5a..95505e7 100644
--- a/cig.h
+++ b/cig.h
@@ -233,6 +233,7 @@ void scanner_error(scanner_t *s, const char *message);
 void scanner_error_and_recover(scanner_t *s, const char *message);
 bool scan_eof(scanner_t *s);
 bool scan_literal(scanner_t *s, const char *lit);
+int scan_repeat_literal(scanner_t *s, const char *lit);
 bool scan_whitespace(scanner_t *s);
 bool scan_digit(scanner_t *s);
 bool scan_i64(scanner_t *s);
diff --git a/scanner.c b/scanner.c
index ee4f7cb..e0dd991 100644
--- a/scanner.c
+++ b/scanner.c
@@ -76,6 +76,14 @@ bool scan_literal(scanner_t *s, const char *lit) {
 	return false;
 }
 
+int scan_repeat_literal(scanner_t *s, const char *lit) {
+	int n_repeats = 0;
+	while (scan_literal(s, lit)) {
+		n_repeats++;
+	}
+	return n_repeats;
+}
+
 bool scan_whitespace(scanner_t *s) {
 	const char *save = s->cur;
 	while (isspace((unsigned char)*s->cur)) s->cur++;