Potential complements

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Level

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Level
Level
Similar to
Similar to
- Potential complement "-bu dong" for not understanding (HSK2)
- Direction complement (HSK3, HSK4)
- Advanced potential complements (HSK5)
- Advanced result complements "zhu", "kai", and "chulai" (HSK5)
- Complement "-zhao" (HSK5)
Used for
Keywords

Verbs can take potential complements that indicate whether or not the action is actually possible. They are useful in Chinese to say if an action can take place.

Basic Potential Complement

Structurally, potential complements are closely related to both result complements and direction complements, so it helps to be familiar with those first. The most important and commonly used potential complements are derived from other complements such as the following:

Verb + 见 e.g. 看见, 听见 (result complements)
Verb + 懂 e.g. 看懂, 听懂 (result complements)
Verb + 完 e.g. 吃完, 做完, 用完, 花完 (result complements)
Verb + Adj. e.g. 看清楚, 听明白, 洗干净 (result complements)
Verb + 到 e.g. 找到, 买到, 收到 (result complements)
Verb + direction e.g. 上来, 下去, 进去, 起来, 走过去, 爬上去 (direction complements)

Structure

Potential complements can be positive or negative. What this means is fairly intuitive - potential complements can be used to express that something can happen or that it can't.

Verb + 得 / 不 + [Complement]

Here the complement is the second part of the potential complement after 得 (positive).

Examples

大家都看不懂这句话。Dàjiā dōu kàn bu dǒng zhè jù huà. .
你的声音太小了，我们听不见。Nǐ de shēngyīn tài xiǎo le, wǒmen tīng bu jiàn. .
他一个人吃得完这么多饭吗？Tā yī gè rén chī de wán zhème duō fàn ma? .
我找不到我的手机了。Wǒ zhǎo bu dào wǒ de shǒujī le. .
我没戴眼镜，看不清楚。Wǒ méi dài yǎnjìng, kàn bu qīngchu. .
这件衣服太脏了，我洗不干净。Zhè jiàn yīfu tài zāng le, wǒ xǐ bu gānjìng. .
在上海买得到这个牌子的手表吗？Zài Shànghǎi mǎi de dào zhè gè páizi de shǒubiǎo ma? ?
我总是收不到你的邮件。Wǒ zǒngshì shōu bu dào nǐ de yóujiàn. .
门太小了，我的车进不去。Mén tài xiǎo le, wǒ de chē jìn bu qù. .
这么高的山，你爬得上去吗？Zhème gāo de shān, nǐ pá de shàngqù ma? .

Sources and and further reading

Books

Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar (pp. 71) →buy
Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (pp. 191) →buy
Boya Chinese Elementary Starter 1 (博雅汉语初经起步篇) (pp. 197) →buy
Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (pp. 291) →buy
Practicing HSK Grammar (语法精讲精炼) (pp. 125) →buy
Contemporary Chinese 2 (当代中文2) (pp. 63) →buy
New Practical Chinese Reader 3 (新实用汉语课本3) (pp. 99) →buy

Websites

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