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".
Contents
Expressing an upward movement:
起来 can be used to like "up", where in English we say "stand up", or "pick up".
- 大家 站 起来 了。
- 快点 把 垃圾 捡 起来。
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。
Expressing a superficial judgement
起来 can also be used to express a superficial judgement. 起来 is used here to express that the speaker has only just initiated an action, and based on that, has made a quick judgement. 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
- Figurative directional complements 下去 and 出来
- Direction complement
- Result complements "dao" and "jian"
- Appearance with "kanqilai"
Sources and further reading
Websites
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
