Advanced uses of direction complement "-qilai"

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。He put away his clothes.
  • 13 和 15 加 起来是 多少？How much is 13 and 15 added up?
  • 我 老婆 把 我 的 钱 都 存 起来了。My wife saves up all my money.
  • 宝宝， 把 你 的 玩具 都 收 起来。Darling, put your toys away.
  • 你 为什么 要 把 我 的 内衣 藏 起来？ Why would you hide my underwear?

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.
  • 要 想 让 这 次 活动 成功， 就 一定 要 把 所有 人 都 组织 起来？ If we want this event to succeed, we must organize all the people.

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.
  • 宝宝 哭 起来 了。The baby started crying.
  • 两 个 大妈 吵 起来 了。Two middle-aged ladies started arguing.
  • 天气 热 起来 了。It's starting to get hot.
  • 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, 聊, 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

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