Direction complement "-qilai"

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." When used figuratively, 起来 often serves as a direction complement.

Expressing an upward movement

Structure

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

Verb + 起来

Examples

• 请 大家 站 起来 。Qǐng dàjiā zhàn qǐlái.Everyone, please stand up.
• 快 把 地上 的 书 捡 起来。Kuài bǎ dìshàng de shū jiǎn qǐlái.Quickly pick up the books on the floor.
• 你 怎么 不 把 老人 扶 起来 ？ Nǐ zěnme bù bǎ lǎorén fú qǐlái? Why didn't you keep the old man upright?
• 别 动 ！ 把 手 举 起来 。 Bié dòng! Bǎ shǒu jǔ qǐlái.Don't move! Put your hands up.

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 。 Dàjiā xiào qǐlái le.Everyone started laughing.
• 宝宝 哭 起来 了 。 Bǎobǎo kū qǐlái le.The baby started crying.
• 两 个 大妈 吵 起来 了 。 Liǎng gè dàmā chǎo qǐlái le.Two middle-aged ladies started arguing.
• 天气 热 起来 了 。 Tiānqì rè qǐlái le.It's starting to get hot.
• 他 的 病 好 起来了 。 Tā de bìng hǎo qǐlái le.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。Wǒmen zuòfàn qǐlái ba.
• 我们 开始 做饭 吧。Wǒmen kāishǐ zuòfàn ba.

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:

Structure

Subj. + Verb + 起来 + Adj.

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.

Examples

• 他 看 起来 很 友好。Tā kàn qǐlái hěn yǒuhǎo.He looks very friendly.
• 这 件 事情 听 起来 有点 复杂。Zhè jiàn shìqing tīng qǐlái yǒudiǎn fùzá.This matter sounds a little bit complex.
• 你 点 的 菜 尝 起来 不错。Nǐ diǎn de cài cháng qǐlái bùcuò.The dishes that you ordered taste good .
• 这 件 衣服 摸 起来 很 舒服。Zhè jiàn yīfu mō qǐlái hěn shūfu.These clothes feel very comfortable.

See Also

• 下去
• 出来
• Direction complement
• Result complements "dao" and "jian"
• Appearance with "kanqilai"

Sources and further reading

Books

• Chinese Grammar - Broken down into 100 items - Basic and Intermediate Levels (汉语语法百项讲练 - 初中级) (pp. 25-31) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Boya Chinese Elementary Starter 2 (博雅汉语初经起步篇) (pp. 80) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 5 (新实用汉语课本5) (pp. 134-5) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• 40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course (基础汉语40课下册） (pp. 355-6) [ →buy]
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 2 (pp. 20) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy

Websites

• Yale: Extended meaning of some directional complements