Difference between revisions of "Complement"

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<td rowspan="4" style="font-size:100%">[[Result complement]]</td><td>做</td><td>完</td><td style="font-size:100%">to finish doing</td>
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<td rowspan="5" style="font-size:100%">[[Result complement]]</td><td>做</td><td>完</td><td style="font-size:100%">to finish doing</td>
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<td>看</td><td>见</td><td style="font-size:100%">to see</td>
 
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<td rowspan="5" style="font-size:100%">[[Potential complement]]</td><td>去</td><td>不了</td><td style="font-size:100%">cannot go</td>
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<td rowspan="7" style="font-size:100%">[[Potential complement]]</td><td>去</td><td>不了</td><td style="font-size:100%">cannot go</td>
 
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<td>去</td><td>得了</td><td style="font-size:100%">can go</td>
 
<td>去</td><td>得了</td><td style="font-size:100%">can go</td>
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<td>听</td><td>不到</td><td style="font-size:100%">cannot hear</td>
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<td>看</td><td>得见</td><td style="font-size:100%">can see</td>
 
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Revision as of 13:24, 28 July 2011

Complements are a a special type of structure found in modern Mandarin which follow verbs (or sometimes adjectives) and provide additional information. They can be as short as one character, or practically as long as a sentence. According to A Practical Chinese Grammar for Foreigners, complements "show the duration, quantity, degree, result, direction or possibility of an action; or to illustrate the state, number, degree of a thing"[1]. The Chinese word for complement is 补语 (bǔyǔ).

Complements are not a form of flattery (those are compliments)[2]; they're much more versatile than that! But because complements have no exact counterpart in English, they can be a little bit difficult to get the hang of at first. As is often the case, plentiful examples will help clarify!

Summary of complement types

Below you'll find all the major complement types, with representative examples of each. Click through for a more detailed explanation and more examples.

Main Complement Types, with Examples
Type of ComplementVerbComplementEnglish
Result complementto finish doing
to see
to buy (successfully)
计划to plan (properly)
清楚to speak clearly
Potential complement不了cannot go
得了can go
不到cannot hear
得见can see
不懂to (listen but) not understand
得懂to be able to read and understand
得完can finish eating
Direction complementto put down
上去to walk up
回来to fly back (here)
过来to look (over) this way
Quantity complement一次to go once
工作十个小时to work for 10 hours
Degree complement得很好to speak (very) well
好*极了great
Location complement在北京to live in Beijing
到中国to come to China

* OK, this one is an adjective, not a verb!

Result complement

Result complement

Potential complement

Potential complement

Direction complement

Direction complement

(Compound direction complements)

Quantity complement

Quantity complement

Degree complement

Degree complement

Location complement

Location complement

References

  1. A Practical Chinese Grammar for Foreigners, p. 271
  2. For more info on this common mistake, see this website.

Sources and further reading