Direction complement

Also known as: 趋向补语 (qūxiàng bǔyǔ), directional complement and complement of direction.

A direction complement is a verbal complement that's used, you guessed it, to describe the direction or progression of an action.

Coming and going

The most basic (and common) form of direction complement is formed by a verb and 来 or 去:

Verb + (来 or 去)

The most important thing to consider with direction complements is the position of the speaker. If the action moves towards the speaker or comes closer in any way, use 来. If the action moves away from the speaker or becomes more distant in any way, use 去.

Result complement example compounds

	Direction	Verb	Complement	Explanation
Position of speaker	←	下	下来	The movement is down towards the speaker: "come down"
	→	下	下去	The movement is down away from the speaker: "go down"

Sources and further reading

Websites

• Mandarin Essential Grammar (Yale): Directional Complements