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Mandarin Chinese 2 Unit 4: Resultative and Directional Complements

Complements attached directly to verbs tell you the result of an action (看懂, 做完) or its direction (走进来, 拿出去). They are one of the biggest steps between beginner and intermediate Chinese.

Covers: Resultative complements (完, 好, 到, 懂, 见, 错), Negating results with 没, Potential complements: V得/V不 + result, Simple directional complements 来 and 去, Compound directional complements, Object placement and extended meanings

Study guide

A resultative complement is a verb or adjective added right after the main verb to show what the action achieved. 看 means look; 看见 means see (look and perceive). 听 means listen; 听懂 means understand by listening. Common complements include 完 (finished: 吃完, 写完), 好 (done properly or ready: 准备好, 做好), 到 (reach a goal: 找到, 买到, 看到), 懂 (understand: 看懂), 见 (perceive: 听见), 错 (wrongly: 写错, 打错电话), 对 (correctly: 说对) and 干净 (clean: 洗干净). The verb and complement act as one unit, so 了 goes after the whole compound: 我做完了作业.

Resultatives are negated with 没(有), because they describe whether a result happened: 我没找到我的钥匙 (I didn't find my keys), 他没听懂 (He didn't understand). 不 is normally not used, except in conditions such as 不做完作业，就不能看电视. Questions use 了吗 or 了没有: 你写完了吗? To say whether a result is possible, use a potential complement by inserting 得 (can) or 不 (cannot) between the verb and complement: 听得懂 (can understand), 听不懂 (can't understand), 看得见 (can see), 做不完 (can't finish). Potential complements are very common in speech and often replace 能 in these situations.

Directional complements show which way an action moves. A simple directional complement is 来 (toward the speaker) or 去 (away from the speaker): 上来 (come up), 下去 (go down), 进来 (come in), 出去 (go out), 回来 (come back), 过去 (go over). These can follow action verbs to form compound directional complements: 走进来 (walk in), 跑出去 (run out), 拿上来 (bring up), 带回去 (take back), 站起来 (stand up). The choice between 来 and 去 depends on where the speaker is: if you are inside, you say 请进来; if you are outside telling someone to enter, you say 进去吧.

Object placement is tricky. A place word always goes before 来 or 去: 他走进教室来 (He walked into the classroom) or 他回家去了, never 他回来家. A thing can go before or after 来/去: 他拿出来一本书 or 他拿出一本书来. Many directional complements also have extended, non-literal meanings. 起来 can mean "start to" (笑起来), or "when you look/think about it" (看起来很累, It looks tiring). 想起来 means to recall, 下去 can mean to continue (说下去), and 出来 can mean to figure out or recognize (我听出来是他).

Key ideas

• A resultative complement shows the result of the main verb: 找到, 听懂, 写错.
• Verb + complement is one unit; 了 and objects follow the whole compound.
• Negate achieved results with 没, not 不.
• Potential complements insert 得/不: 看得懂, 看不懂.
• 来 moves toward the speaker and 去 moves away from the speaker.
• Place objects go before 来/去 in directional complements.
• 起来, 下去 and 出来 have common extended meanings.

Formulas and rules

Common mistakes

• Negating a result with 不 (我不找到) instead of 没 (我没找到).
• Putting 了 between verb and complement, as in 吃了完.
• Placing a location after 来/去, as in 他回来家了.
• Choosing 来 when the motion is away from the speaker, or 去 when it is toward the speaker.
• Mixing up 看 (look) and 看见 (see) or 听 (listen) and 听见 (hear).

Before the test, make sure you can

• Choose the right resultative complement for a meaning (完, 好, 到, 懂, 见, 错).
• Negate results with 没 and ask with 了吗/了没有.
• Form and use potential complements like 听得懂 and 买不到.
• Pick 来 or 去 based on the speaker's position.
• Place location and thing objects correctly with directional complements.
• Translate extended meanings of 起来, 下去 and 出来.
• Explain the difference between 看 and 看见, 听 and 听懂.

Words to know

完

to finish (wán)

懂

to understand (dǒng)

见

to perceive (jiàn)

错

wrong (cuò)

干净

clean (gānjìng)

找到

to find (zhǎodào)

上

to go up (shàng)

下

to go down (xià)

进

to enter (jìn)

出

to exit (chū)

回

to return (huí)

过

to cross, pass (guò)

起

to rise (qǐ)

钥匙

key (yàoshi)

行李

luggage (xíngli)

椅子

chair (yǐzi)

楼

floor, building (lóu)

宿舍

dorm (sùshè)

看起来

to look, seem (kàn qǐlai)

想起来

to recall (xiǎng qǐlai)

准备

to prepare (zhǔnbèi)

明白

to understand (míngbai)

Sample practice questions

30 more questions like these, from level 1 to 5, are in the practice set.