Difference between revisions of "Direction complement "-qilai""

Revision as of 05:57, 26 November 2013

Level

B1 / HSK4
Level

B1
Level

HSK4
Similar to
- Result complements "-dao" and "-jian" (A2)
- Appearance with "kanqilai" (B1)
- Direction complement (B1)
- Result complement "-xiaqu" (B1)
- Result complements (B1)
- Advanced uses of direction complement "-qilai" (B2)
Similar to
- Result complements (HSK2, HSK3)
- Result complements "-dao" and "-jian" (HSK2)
- Appearance with "kanqilai" (HSK3)
- Direction complement (HSK3, HSK4)
- Result complement "-xiaqu" (HSK3)
- Advanced uses of direction complement "-qilai" (HSK4)
Used for

Describing actions, Expressing movement, Expressing result
Keywords

来, 起来, 起

起来 (qǐlái) comes up very frequently in Chinese and can be used both literally and figuratively. This is a little like the usage of "up" in English which can be used literally, as in "stand up", or figuratively, as in "add up".

Expressing an upward movement:

起来 can be used to express an upward movement like "up", as in the English examples of "stand up" or "pick up."

请大家 站起来 。 Please stand up.
快点把垃圾 捡起来。Quickly pick up the trash.

Expressing bringing things together

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

他把衣服都收起来 了。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。Add your salary and bonus together and you'll figure out your income.
一个优秀的领袖会让他的人民 团结起来。An outstanding leader can make his people come together.

Expressing an initial judgement

起来 can also be used to express a preliminary judgement. 起来 is used here to express that the speaker has only just initiated an action, and based on that, has made a quick judgement. It is used in the following structure:

Subject + Verb + 起来 + Adjective

This expresses that the subject seems adjective when the action of the verb is performed. This structure is frequently used with perception verbs such as 看, 听, 尝 etc.

Some examples:

他 看起来 很友好。He looks very friendly.
这件事情听起来 有点复杂。This matter sounds a little bit complex.
你点的菜 尝起来 味道不错。The dishes that you ordered tastes good .
这件衣服 摸起来 很舒服。These clothes feel very comfortable.

Sources and further reading

Books

Websites

Yale: Extended meaning of some directional complements

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	起来 (qǐlái) comes up very frequently in Chinese and can be used both literally and figuratively. This is a little like the usage of "up" in English which can be used literally, as in "stand up", or figuratively, as in "add up".		起来 (qǐlái) comes up very frequently in Chinese and can be used both literally and figuratively. This is a little like the usage of "up" in English which can be used literally, as in "stand up", or figuratively, as in "add up".