Difference between revisions of "Advanced uses of direction complement "-qilai""

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<div class="liju">
 
<div class="liju">
 
* 大家  <em>笑 起来</em> 了。<span class="trans">Everyone started laughing.</span>
 
* 大家  <em>笑 起来</em> 了。<span class="trans">Everyone started laughing.</span>
* 两 个 大妈  <em>吵 起来</em> 了。<span class="trans">Two aunts started arguing.</span>
+
* 两 个 大妈  <em>吵 起来</em> 了。<span class="trans">Two middle-aged ladies started arguing.</span>
 
* 今天 天气 <em>热 起来</em> 了。<span class="trans">It's starting to get hot today.</span>
 
* 今天 天气 <em>热 起来</em> 了。<span class="trans">It's starting to get hot today.</span>
 
* 他 的 病 <em>好起来</em>了。<span class="trans">His illness is starting to get better.</span>
 
* 他 的 病 <em>好起来</em>了。<span class="trans">His illness is starting to get better.</span>

Revision as of 09:12, 24 March 2016

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, listed below.

Expressing bringing things together

Structure

起来 can be used to express collecting things together, where in English we might say "tidy up", or "add up".

Verb / Adj. + 起来

Examples

  • 他 把 衣服 都收 起来 了。Tā bǎ yīfu dōu shōu qǐlái le.He put away his clothes.
  • 把 你的 工资 和 奖金 加 起来就知道你这个月的收入了。Bǎ nǐ de gōngzī hé jiǎngjīn jiā qǐlái jiù zhīdao nǐ zhè ge yuè de shōurù le.Add your salary and bonus together and you'll figure out your income.
  • 请 把13 和 15 起来Please add 13 and 15 together.
  • 宝宝,你 应该 把 你 的 玩具 起来Darling, you should put your toys away.

Structure

起来 can also be used to express more abstract concepts of bringing things together.

Examples

  • 一个 优秀 的 领袖 会 让 他 的 人民 团结 起来Yī gè yōuxiù de lǐngxiù huì ràng tā de rénmín tuánjié qǐlái.An outstanding leader can make his people come together.
  • 怎么 才 能 让 她 高兴 起来Anything to make her happy.

Expressing initiation of an action

Structure

起来 can also be used to show that an action or state has started and is ongoing:

Verb / Adj. + 起来 +了

Examples

  • 大家 笑 起来 了。Everyone started laughing.
  • 两 个 大妈 吵 起来 了。Two middle-aged ladies started arguing.
  • 今天 天气 热 起来 了。It's starting to get hot today.
  • 他 的 病 好起来了。His illness is starting to get better.

When used like this, 起来 is only used with spontaneous actions, like 唱, 跳, 讨论, or with states like 热,冷,or 好 etc. It cannot be used with planned actions.

  • 我们 做饭 起来 吧。
  • 我们 开始 做饭 吧。

See also

Sources and further reading

Books

Websites