Advanced uses of direction complement "-qilai"

We saw in B1 that 起来 (qǐlái) can be used to express a literal upward movement, among other things. 起来 also some more slightly less intuitive meanings, listed below.

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".

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

Expressing recollection

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

• 我 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 or state has started and is ongoing:

• 大家 笑 起来 了
• 两 个 大妈 吵 起来 了
• 今天 天气 热 起来 了
• 他的病 好起来了

So 笑起来 is the same as 开始笑. When used like this, 起来 is only used with spontaneous actions, like 唱, 跳, 讨论, or with states like 热，冷，or 好 etc. It cannot be used with planned actions.

For example

• 我们 做饭 起来 吧。
• 我们 开始 做饭 吧。

See also

• Figurative directional complements 下去 and 出来
• Direction complement
• Result complements "dao" and "jian"
• Appearance with "kanqilai"

Sources and further reading

Websites

• Yale: Extended meaning of some directional complements

Books

• 汉语语法百项讲练 pp.25-31
• Boya Chinese: Elementary Starter II p.80
• New Practical Chinese Reader: Textbook 5 pp.134-135