Direction complement "-qilai"
起来 (qǐlái) comes up very frequently in Chinese and has a variety of meanings. Literally, it is used to express an upward movement:
- 大家 站 起来 了。
- 把 垃圾 捡 起来。
It can also be used figuratively to express remembering something that was forgotten, and is almost like the speaker is unable to pick the memory out of their mind.
- 我 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 记 不起来 你 的 名字!
起来 can also be used to show that an action has started:
- 大家笑起来了 (the same as 大家开始笑)
- 两个大妈吵起来了 (the same as 开始吵架)
起来 is often with for spontaneous actions, 起来 cannot be used to for actions which are scheduled
起来 can also be used to express a superficial judgement. This is like the speaker has only just started the action, and upon further investigation may find something different. 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
