Difference between revisions of "Direction complement"

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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.

Direction complement examples
	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"
	←	上	上来	The movement is up towards the speaker: "come up"
	→	上	上去	The movement is up and away from the speaker: "go up"
	←	出	出来	The movement is out and towards the speaker: "come out"
	→	出	出去	The movement is out and away from the speaker: "go out"
	←	进	进来	The movement is in and towards the speaker: "come in"
	→	进	进去	The movement is in and away from the speaker: "go in"

Sources and further reading

Books

Websites

Mandarin Essential Grammar (Yale): Directional Complements

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 {| class="wikitable" style="width:48em"
-|+Result complement example compounds
+|+Direction complement examples
 |-
 ! !! Direction !! Verb !! Complement !! Explanation
 |-
-|rowspan="6"|Position of speaker
+|rowspan="8"|<span class="spaced">Position of speaker</span>
-| <span style="font-size:x-large;">←</span> || 下 || 下来 || <span class="spaced">The movement is down towards the speaker: "come down"</span>
+| <span style="font-size:xx-large;">'''←'''</span> || 下 || 下来 || <span class="spaced">The movement is down towards the speaker: "come down"</span>
 |-
-| <span style="font-size:x-large;">→</span> || 下 || 下去 || <span class="spaced">The movement is down away from the speaker: "go down"</span>
+| <span style="font-size:xx-large;">'''→'''</span> || 下 || 下去 || <span class="spaced">The movement is down away from the speaker: "go down"</span>
+|-
+| <span style="font-size:xx-large;">'''←'''</span> || 上 || 上来 || <span class="spaced">The movement is up towards the speaker: "come up"</span>
+|-
+| <span style="font-size:xx-large;">'''→'''</span> || 上 || 上去 || <span class="spaced">The movement is up and away from the speaker: "go up"</span>
+|-
+| <span style="font-size:xx-large;">'''←'''</span> || 出 || 出来 || <span class="spaced">The movement is out and towards the speaker: "come out"</span>
+|-
+| <span style="font-size:xx-large;">'''→'''</span> || 出 || 出去 || <span class="spaced">The movement is out and away from the speaker: "go out"</span>
+|-
+| <span style="font-size:xx-large;">'''←'''</span> || 进 || 进来 || <span class="spaced">The movement is in and towards the speaker: "come in"</span>
+|-
+| <span style="font-size:xx-large;">'''→'''</span> || 进 || 进去 || <span class="spaced">The movement is in and away from the speaker: "go in"</span>
 |}