Advanced uses of direction complement "-qilai"

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?

See also

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

Sources and further reading

Books

• HSK Standard Course 4下 (pp. 135) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Boya Chinese Elementary Starter 2 (博雅汉语初经起步篇) (pp. 80) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Chinese Grammar - Broken down into 100 items - Basic and Intermediate Levels (汉语语法百项讲练 - 初中级) (pp. 25-31) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed) (pp. 141-2) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (pp. 342-3) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 2 (pp. 20) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 3 (新实用汉语课本3) (pp. 169) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 5 (新实用汉语课本5) (pp. 134-5) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy

Websites

• Yale: Extended meaning of some directional complements

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