Complement
Complements are not a form of flattery (those are compliments)[1]; they're a special type of structure found in modern Mandarin and have no exact counterpart in English. The Chinese word for complement is 补语 (bǔyǔ).
Complements are a bit hard to define, but you'll generally find them following verbs (or sometimes adjectives). They can be as short as one character, or practically as long as a sentence. According to A Practical Chinese Grammar for Foreigners, complements "show the duration, quantity, degree, result, direction or possibility of an action; or to illustrate the state, number, degree of a thing"[2]. As is often the case, plentiful examples will help clarify!
Contents
Summary of complements
| Type of Complement | Verb | Complement | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Result complement | 做 | 完 | to finish doing |
| Result complement | 买 | 到 | to (successfully) buy |
| Potential complement | 做 | 得完 | can finish doing |
| Potential complement | 听 | 不懂 | (to listen but) not understand |
| Direction complement | 跑 | 过来 | to run over (here) |
| Direction complement | 放 | 上去 | to place on (something) |
| Quantity complement | 看 | 两遍 | to watch twice |
| Quantity complement | 工作 | 三天 | to work for three days |
| Degree complement | 洗 | 得很好 | to wash very well |
| Degree complement | 好 | 极了 | fantastic |
| Location complement | 住 | 在北京 | to live in Beijing |
| Location complement | 来 | 到中国 | to come to China |
| Type of Complement | Verb | Complement | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Result complement | 做 | 完 | to finish doing |
| 买 | 到 | to buy (successfully) | |
| Potential complement | 吃 | 得完 | can finish eating |
| 听 | 不懂 | to (listen but) not understand | |
| Direction complement | 放 | 下 | to put down |
| 跑 | 过来 | to run over (here) | |
| Quantity complement | 去 | 一次 | to go once |
| 工作 | 十个小时 | to work for 10 hours | |
| Degree complement | |||
| Location complement | 说 | 得很好 | to speak (very) well |
| 好 | 极了 | great |
Result complement
Potential complement
Direction complement
(Compound direction complements)
Quantity complement
Degree complement
Location complement
References
- ↑ For more info on this common mistake, see this website.
- ↑ A Practical Chinese Grammar for Foreigners, p. 271
Sources and further reading
- Grammar book: 外国人实用汉语语法(中英文对照) (pp. 242 - 243, pp. 271 - 329)
