Difference between revisions of "Direction complement "-qilai""

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起来 (qǐlái) comes up very frequently in Chinese and has a variety of meanings.  
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起来 (qǐlái) comes up very frequently in Chinese and has a variety of meanings. It is often used similarly to "up" in English.
  
  
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* 大家 站 起来 了。  
 
* 大家 站 起来 了。  
 
* 快点 把 垃圾 捡 起来。
 
* 快点 把 垃圾 捡 起来。
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===Expressing bringing things together===
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起来 can be used to express collecting things together, where in English we might say "tidy up", or "add up"
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* 一个 优秀 的 领袖 会 让 他 的 国民 团结 起来。
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* 请 把13 和 15 加 起来
 
* 他 把 袜子 收拾 起来 了。
 
* 他 把 袜子 收拾 起来 了。
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As in the final example, 起来 can also have the idea of "collecting together", like "tidy up" in English.
 
 
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<div class="liju">
 
<div class="liju">
 
* 我  <em>想 起来 了!我们 是 去年 在 北京 开会 的 时候 见面 的!
 
* 我  <em>想 起来 了!我们 是 去年 在 北京 开会 的 时候 见面 的!
* 不好意思,我  <em>记 不起来 你 的 名字!
 
 
</div>
 
</div>
  
 
===Expressing initiation of an action===
 
===Expressing initiation of an action===
  
起来 can also be used to show that an action has started:
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起来 can also be used to show that an action has started.
  
 
<div class="liju">
 
<div class="liju">
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* Yale: [http://comet.cls.yale.edu/mandarin/content/directional/grammar/direction-3a.htm Extended meaning of some directional complements]
 
* Yale: [http://comet.cls.yale.edu/mandarin/content/directional/grammar/direction-3a.htm Extended meaning of some directional complements]
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===Books===
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* [http://www.amazon.cn/gp/product/B004WA6JSQ/ref%3das_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-23&linkCode=as2&camp=536&creative=3132&creativeASIN=B004WA6JSQ 汉语语法百项讲练] pp.25-31
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* [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/7301078617/ref%3das_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=7301078617 Boya Chinese: Elementary Starter II] p.80
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* [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/7561914083/ref%3das_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=7561914083 New Practical Chinese Reader: Textbook 5] pp.134-135

Revision as of 02:23, 15 November 2011

起来 (qǐlái) comes up very frequently in Chinese and has a variety of meanings. It is often used similarly to "up" in English.


Expressing an upward movement:

起来 can be used to like "up" where in English we say "stand up", or "pick up".

  • 大家 站 起来 了。
  • 快点 把 垃圾 捡 起来。

Expressing bringing things together

起来 can be used to express collecting things together, where in English we might say "tidy up", or "add up"

  • 一个 优秀 的 领袖 会 让 他 的 国民 团结 起来。
  • 请 把13 和 15 加 起来
  • 他 把 袜子 收拾 起来 了。

Expressing recollection

It can also be used figuratively to express remembering something that was forgotten, and is almost like the speaker picking memories up out of their mind.

  • 想 起来 了!我们 是 去年 在 北京 开会 的 时候 见面 的!

Expressing initiation of an action

起来 can also be used to show that an action has started.

  • 大家 笑 起来 了 (the same as 开始 笑)
  • 两 个 大妈 吵 起来 了 (the same as 开始 吵架)

When used like this, 起来 is only used with spontaneous actions, like 唱, 跳, 讨论 etc.


Expressing a superficial judgement

起来 can also be used to express a superficial judgement. 起来 is used here to express that the speaker has only just initiated an action, and based on that, has made a quick judgement. It is used in the following structure:

Subject + Verb + 起来 + Adjective

This expresses that the subject seems adjective when the action of the verb is performed. This structure is frequently used with perception verbs such as 看, 听, 尝 etc.

Some examples:

  • 他 看 起来 很 友好。
  • 那 听 起来 不错。
  • 这 瓶 啤酒 尝 起来 像 比利时的。

See also


Sources and further reading

Websites

Books