Difference between revisions of "Complement"

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</table>
 
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<nowiki />* OK, this one is an [[Adjectives|adjective]], not a verb!
 
<nowiki />* OK, this one is an [[Adjectives|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 ==
 
== References ==
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* Grammar book: [http://www.amazon.cn/mn/detailApp?_encoding=UTF8&tag=allset-23&linkCode=as2&asin=B001J0ADWA&camp=536&creative=3132&creativeASIN=B001J0ADWA 外国人实用汉语语法(中英文对照)] (pp. 242 - 243, pp. 271 - 329)
 
* Grammar book: [http://www.amazon.cn/mn/detailApp?_encoding=UTF8&tag=allset-23&linkCode=as2&asin=B001J0ADWA&camp=536&creative=3132&creativeASIN=B001J0ADWA 外国人实用汉语语法(中英文对照)] (pp. 242 - 243, pp. 271 - 329)
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* Baidu Baike (Chinese): [http://baike.baidu.com/view/146650.htm 补语]
  
 
[[Category:Sentence Elements]]
 
[[Category:Sentence Elements]]

Revision as of 14:14, 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 (as well as some of the minor ones), with representative examples of each. The first three (result, potential, and direction) are the critical ones. 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
Degree complement得很好to speak (very) well
好*极了great
State complement很简单to think very simply
得很乱to make a mess (of things)
Quantity complement一次to go once
工作十个小时to work for 10 hours
Location complement在北京to live in Beijing
到中国to come to China
Time complement到明年to wait until next year
于69年to be born in '69

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

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