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

Revision as of 13:35, 24 November 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 saw in B1 that 起来 (qǐlái), among other things, can be used to express a literal upward movement. 起来 also has some more slightly less intuitive usages, which are figurative extensions of the "movement" idea.

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

Structure

Verb + 起来

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

Subj. + 把 + Obj. + Verb + 起来

Examples

13 和 15 加起来是多少？13 hé 15 jiā qǐlái shì duōshǎo?How much is 13 and 15 added up?
他把衣服都收起来了。Tā bǎ yīfú dōu shōu qǐlái le.He put away his clothes.
我老婆把钱都存起来了。Wǒ lǎopó bǎ qián dōu cún qǐlái le.My wife saves up 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?

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

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 unite.
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 kuài lè. If you combine your work with your interest, working would be fun.
我们要把所有的资源都利用起来。Wǒmen yào bǎ suǒyǒu de zīyuán dōu lìyòng qǐlái.We need to put all the resources together.
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.
她最近很不开心，我怎么样才能让她高兴起来呢？Tā zuìjìn hěn bù kāixīn, wǒ zěnmeyàng cáinéng ràng tā gāoxìng qǐlái ne?She's been very unhappy lately. How can I make her happy?

Sources and further reading

Books

Websites

Yale: Extended meaning of some directional complements

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 *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 up 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 wèishéme 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>
+*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>
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