Difference between revisions of "Advanced uses of direction complement "-qilai""

Latest revision as of 07:21, 29 December 2020

Level

B2 / HSK4
Level

B2
Level

HSK4
Similar to
- Result complements "-dao" and "-jian" (A2)
- Direction complement (B1)
- Direction complement "-qilai" (B1)
- Result complement "-xiaqu" (B1)
Similar to
- Result complements "-dao" and "-jian" (HSK2)
- Direction complement (HSK3, HSK4)
- Result complement "-xiaqu" (HSK3)
- Direction complement "-qilai" (HSK4)
Used for

Expressing result
Keywords

来, 起来

We have seen before that 起来 (qǐlái), among other things, can be used to express a literal upward movement. 起来 also has some less intuitive usages, which are figurative extensions of the "movement" idea. For example, 起来 can be used to express collecting things together, sort of like in English we might say "tidy up," or "gather up."

Structure

Verb + 起来

Note that you will often see this pattern used with 把 sentence.

Subj. + 把 + Obj. + Verb + 起来

Examples

These examples are all more literal cases of bringing physical things together is some way.

13 和 15 加起来是多少？Shísān hé shíwǔ jiā qǐlái shì duōshǎo?How much are 13 and 15 added up?
他把衣服都收起来了。Tā bǎ yīfu dōu shōu qǐlái le.He put away the clothes.
我老婆把钱都存起来了。Wǒ lǎopo bǎ qián dōu cún qǐlái le.My wife saves all our money.
把你的玩具都收起来。bǎ nǐ de wánjù dōu shōu qǐlái.Put your toys away.
你为什么要把我的手机藏起来？Nǐ wèishénme yào bǎ wǒ de shǒujī cáng qǐlái?Why would you hide my cell phone?
你可以把手机拆开，但是你能重新装起来吗？ Nǐ kěyǐ bǎ shǒujī chāikāi, dànshì nǐ néng chóngxīn zhuāng qǐlái ma?You can take the phone apart, but can you put it all back together again?

起来 can also be used to express more abstract concepts of bringing things together.

这两个颜色搭配起来很漂亮。 Zhè liǎng gè yánsè dāpèi qǐlái hěn piàoliang.These two colors look great when you combine them.
如果我们团结起来，一定能赢。Rúguǒ wǒmen tuánjié qǐlái, yīdìng néng yíng.We will absolutely win this if we band together.
如果你把工作和兴趣结合起来，工作就会很快乐。Rúguǒ nǐ bǎ gōngzuò hé xìngqù jiéhé qǐlái, gōngzuò jiù huì hěn kuàilè. If you combine your work with your interests, working will be fun.
如果你能回忆起来这件事情，就好了。Rúguǒ nǐ néng huíyì qǐlái zhè jiàn shìqing, jiù hǎo le.It would be good if you could recall this incident.

Sources and further reading

Books

Websites

Yale: Extended meaning of some directional complements

@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 *13 和 15 <strong>加</strong> <em>起来</em> 是 多少 ？<span class="pinyin">Shísān hé shíwǔ <strong>jiā</strong> <em>qǐlái</em> shì duōshǎo?</span><span class="trans">How much are 13 and 15 added up?</span>
 *他 <strong>把</strong> 衣服 都 <strong>收</strong> <em>起来</em> 了 。<span class="pinyin">Tā <strong>bǎ</strong> yīfu dōu <strong>shōu</strong> <em>qǐlái</em> le.</span><span class="trans">He put away the clothes.</span>
-*我 老婆 <strong>把</strong> 钱 都 <strong>存</strong> <em>起来</em> 了 。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ lǎopó <strong>bǎ</strong> qián dōu <strong>cún</strong> <em>qǐlái</em> le.</span><span class="trans">My wife saves all our money.</span>
+*我 老婆 <strong>把</strong> 钱 都 <strong>存</strong> <em>起来</em> 了 。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ lǎopo <strong>bǎ</strong> qián dōu <strong>cún</strong> <em>qǐlái</em> le.</span><span class="trans">My wife saves all our money.</span>
 *<strong>把</strong> 你 的 玩具 都 <strong>收</strong> <em>起来</em>  。<span class="pinyin"><strong>bǎ</strong> nǐ de wánjù dōu <strong>shōu</strong> <em>qǐlái</em>.</span><span class="trans">Put your toys away.</span>
 *你 为什么 要 <strong>把</strong> 我 的 手机 <strong>藏</strong> <em>起来</em> ？<span class="pinyin">Nǐ wèishénme yào <strong>bǎ</strong> wǒ de shǒujī <strong>cáng</strong> <em>qǐlái</em>?</span><span class="trans">Why would you hide my cell phone?</span>