Direction complement "-qilai"

起来 (qǐlái) comes up very frequently in Chinese and can be used both literally and figuratively. This is a little like the usage of "up" in English, which can be used literally, as in "stand up," or figuratively, as in "add up." When used figuratively, 起来 often serves as a direction complement.

Basic Meaning

Structure

起来 can be used to express an upward movement like "up," as in the English examples of "stand up" or "pick up."

Verb + 起来

Examples

• 请 大家 站 起来 。Qǐng dàjiā zhàn qǐlái.Everyone, please stand up.
• 捡 起来。Jiǎn qǐlái.Pick it up (from the floor).
• 头 抬 起来 。Tóu tái qǐlái.Raise your head.
• 别动 ！把 手 举 起来 。Bié dòng! Bǎ shǒu jǔ qǐlái.Don't move! Put your hands up.

Used for Initiation of an Action

Structure

起来 can also be used to show that an action or state has started and is ongoing:

Verb / Adj. + 起来 +了

Examples

• 小鸟 飞 起来 了 。Xiǎoniǎo fēi qǐlái le .The birds started flying.
• 宝宝 哭 起来 了 。Bǎobao kū qǐlái le.The baby started crying.
• 两 个 大妈 吵 起来 了 。Liǎng gè dàmā chǎo qǐlái le.Two middle-aged ladies started arguing.
• 天气 热 起来 了 。Tiānqì rè qǐlái le.It's getting hot.
• 结婚 以后 ，她 胖 起来 了 。Jiéhūn yǐhòu, tā pàng qǐlái le.After she got married, she has started to gain weight.
• 爷爷 的 身体 好 起来 了 。Yéye de shēntǐ hǎo qǐlái le.Grandpa's health is getting better.

When used like this, 起来 is only used with spontaneous actions, like 唱 (chàng), 跳 (tiào), 聊 (liáo), or with states like 热 (rè), 冷 (lěng), or 好 (hǎo) etc. It cannot be used with planned actions.

• 我们 做饭 起来 吧。Wǒmen zuòfàn qǐlái ba.
• 我们 开始 做饭 吧 。Wǒmen kāishǐ zuòfàn ba.Let's start cooking.

It can also used as a way to encourage people to start doing something immediately:

• 大家 唱 起来 ，跳 起来 ! Dàjiā chàng qǐlái, tiào qǐlái !Let's sing and dance!

Used for an Initial Judgement

起来 is used here to express that the speaker has only just initiated an action, and based on that, has made a preliminary judgment. It is used in the following structure:

Structure

Subj. + Verb + 起来 + Adv. + Adj.

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, 闻, 尝, etc.

Examples

• 他 看起来 很 友好 。Tā kàn qǐlái hěn yǒuhǎo.He looks very friendly.
• 你 的 头发 闻起来 很 香 。Nǐ de tóufa wén qǐlái hěn xiāng.Your hair smells good.
• 这 件 事情 听起来 有点 复杂 。Zhè jiàn shìqing tīng qǐlái yǒudiǎn fùzá.This matter sounds a little bit complex.
• 这些 菜 尝起来 都 不错 。Zhèxiē cài cháng qǐlái dōu bùcuò.These foods all taste good.
• 你 的 床 摸起来 很 舒服 。Nǐ de chuáng mō qǐlái hěn shūfu.Your bed feels very comfortable.

See also

• Result complement "xiaqu"
• Advanced result complements
• Direction complement
• Appearance with "kanqilai"

Sources and further reading

Books

• Chinese Grammar - Broken down into 100 items - Basic and Intermediate Levels (汉语语法百项讲练 - 初中级) (pp. 25-31) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Boya Chinese Elementary Starter 2 (博雅汉语初经起步篇) (pp. 80) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 5 (新实用汉语课本5) (pp. 134-5) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• 40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course (基础汉语40课下册） (pp. 355-6) [ →buy]
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 2 (pp. 20) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• HSK Standard Course 5上 (pp. 36) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy

Websites

• Yale: Extended meaning of some directional complements