Advanced result complements "zhu", "kai", and "chulai"

Verb Followed by 住

住 can be used to express a "coming to a halt".

Examples

• 站住！你 不 能 走 ！Stop! You can't go!
• 抓住 那个 小偷 ！Catch that thief!
• 不 好意思，你 挡住 了 我 的 路 。Excuse me. You're standing in my way.
• 前面 两 辆 大卡车 堵住 了 整 条 路 。The two trucks ahead are blocking the entire road.

住 can be used to express "undertaking an action firmly" or "tightly".

• 大家 都 记 住 了 吗 ？Has everyone kept that in mind yet?
• 你 必须 抓住 机会 。You must seize the opportunity tightly.
• 看住 你 的 小狗，别 让 它 乱 跑。Keep an eye on your dog. Don't let him just run around.

Verb Followed by 开

开 (kāi) means "to open," but when used as a complement can mean different things with different verbs.

Examples

开 can be used literally to mean "open up" or "turn on":

• 张开 嘴 。Open your mouth.
• 请 打开 课本 。Please open your textbook.
• 他 早上 一 睁开 眼 就 打开 手机 玩 游戏 。He turned on his cell phone to play games as soon as he opened his eyes this morning.

开 can be used to express an action that is occurring in a direction away from the speaker. When used in this sense, 开 is generally used with verbs involving releasing, unfolding or spreading out:

• 走开 ！Go away!
• 放开 我！Let go of me!
• 这个 新闻 很快 就 传开 了 。This news spread out very soon.

开 can be also used to express solving a problem or getting a weight off one's mind.

• 看开 一点，生活 还是 要 继续 的 。You should look on the bright side. Life still goes on.
• 这 件 事 他 一直 想不开 。He hasn't been able to get this off his mind.
• 我们 把 问题 都 说开 了。We talked about all the problems openly.

Verb Followed by 出来

出(来) can be used figuratively to mean "nothing to coming into being" or "to come up with".

Examples

• 你 能 想 出 什么 好 办法 ？What good ideas can you come up with?
• 别 猜 了，你们 肯定 猜 不 出 我 的 新 男朋友 是 谁 。Stop guessing. There's no way for you to figure out who my new boy friend is.
• 这些 数学 题 有点 难 ，我 花 了 一个 小时 才 做 出来 。These math problems are a little bit difficult. It took me an hour to work them out.
• 一万 字 的 文章 我 写 不 出来 。I can't write a ten-thousand-word article.

跟感官动词搭配时，"出(来)"表示"to tell or to distinguish".

• 她 肯定 是 北方人，我 能 听 出来 。She must be from the north. I can hear it.
• 你 能 看 出来 我 多大 吗 ？Can you tell how old I am?
• 菜 里面 有 味精 ，我 能 吃 出来 。Can you tell how old I am?
• 这 个 东西 是 用 什么 做 的 ？你 能 摸 出来 吗 ？What's this thing made of? Can you feel it?
• 你 抽烟 了 吧 ？别 骗 我 ，我 都 闻 出来 了 。Were you smoking? Don't lie to me because I can smell it.

See also

• Result complement
• Potential complement

Sources and further reading

Books

• New Practical Chinese Reader 3 (新实用汉语课本3) (pp. 135) →buy

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