Chinese-ctcfl.ox.ac.uk/MD/Grammar/docs/g06.xhtml

<h1 id="directional-verb-complements">Directional Verb Complements</h1>
<p>A direction verb complement can be formed by an action verb such as 走 zǒu to walk and a word that expresses direction of action such as 进 jìn in or 出 chū out. For instance:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>走 进 教 室。<br /> zǒu jìn jiàoshì <br /> To walk into the classroom.<br /></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The following list consists of the single directional words.</p>
<table style="width:100%;">
<colgroup>
<col width="30%" />
<col width="10%" />
<col width="54%" />
<col width="3%" />
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>Verbs</th>
<th>Directional</th>
<th>complements</th>
<th>Examples</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>挂 guà to hàng<br />戴 dài to wear</td>
<td>上shang up, on</td>
<td>挂 上 地图<br />guà shang dì tú <br />To hang up the map.<br />戴 上 帽 子<br />dài shang màozi <br />To put on the hat.</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>放 fàng to put</td>
<td>下xià down</td>
<td>放 下 书<br />fàng xia shū <br />To put down the book.</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>走 zǒu to walk<br />拿 ná to take<br />开 kāi to drive</td>
<td>进 jìn in</td>
<td>车 开 进了学 院<br />chē kāi jìn le xuéyuàn <br />The car has been driven into the college.</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>走 zǒu to walk<br />拿 ná to take<br />开 kāi to drive</td>
<td>出 chū out</td>
<td>走 出 教 室<br />zǒu chū jiàoshì <br />To walk out of the classroom.</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>走 zǒu to walk<br />拿 ná to take<br />开 kāi to drive<br />寄 jì to post</td>
<td>回 huí back</td>
<td>拿 回 家<br />ná huí jiā <br />To take (bring) it back home.<br />寄回 中 国<br />jì huí Zhōngguó <br />To post it back to China.</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>走 zǒu to walk<br />开 kāi to drive</td>
<td>过 guò across, past, over</td>
<td>走 过 了书 店<br />zǒu guò le shūdiàn <br />Walked pass the bookshop.</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>A directional verb complement can also be formed without an action verb by a directional word with 来 lái to come or去 qù to go. Both 来 lái and 去 qù indicate the position of the speaker. 来 lái to come indicates that the direction is moving towards the speaker and 去 qù to go indicates that the direction is moving away from the speaker. For instance, if your teachers are having a meeting in the classroom and you are outside, you might advise your fellow students:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>别 进 去<br /> bié jìn qù<br /> Don’t go in.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another type of directional verb complement is called the combined directional verb complement. This is formed by an action verb, a directional word and 来 lái to come or 去 qù to go as in:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>走 进来<br /> zǒujìnlái<br /> Walking in.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>来 lái to come in the above phrase indicates that the direction of 进 jìn entering is moving towards the speaker, in other words the speaker is in the room. Adirect object is often inserted into a combined directional complement. Let’s introduce a subject and an object to the above phrase.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>小 王 走 进 了 教 室 来。<br /> Xiǎo Wáng zǒu jìn le jiàoshì lái<br /> Xiao Wang walked into the classroom. (The speaker is in the classroom.)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>来 lái to come implies that the action is moving towards the speaker. In other words, the speaker is in the classroom. You may also have noticed that the aspect particle 了 le is placed after the directional word 进 jìn in. The following list consists of combined directional complements.</p>
<table style="width:100%;">
<colgroup>
<col width="16%" />
<col width="12%" />
<col width="71%" />
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>Verbs</th>
<th>Directional complements</th>
<th>Examples</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>跑 pǎo to run<br />走 zǒu to walk<br />拿 ná to take<br />开 kāi to drive</td>
<td>上来/去<br />shàng lái /qù <br />on</td>
<td>小 王 跑 上 了 山 去。<br />Xiǎo Wáng pǎo shàng le shān qù <br />Xiao Wang ran up the mountain. (The speaker is at the bottom of the mountain.)<br />小 丁 拿 上 了一 杯 茶 来。<br />Xiǎo Dīng ná shàng le yì bēi chá lái <br />Xiao Ding brought up a cup of tea. (The speaker is upstairs.)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>走 zǒu to walk<br />跑 pǎo to run<br />拿 ná to take<br />开 kāi to drive</td>
<td>下来/去<br />xiàlái /qù <br />down</td>
<td>他走 下 了楼 来。<br />tā zǒu xià le lóu lái <br />He walked down from upstairs. (The speaker is downstairs.)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>走 zǒu to walk<br />跑 pǎo to run<br />拿 ná to take<br />开 kāi to drive</td>
<td>进来/去<br />jìn lái /qù <br />in</td>
<td>别 走 进 公 园 去。bié zǒu jìn gongyuán qù <br />Don’t go into the park. (The speaker is outside park.)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>走 zǒu to walk<br />跑 pǎo to run<br />拿 ná to take<br />开 kāi to drive</td>
<td>出来/去<br />chū lái /qù <br />out</td>
<td>她 走 出 了 房 间 来。<br />tā zǒu chū le fangjiān lái <br />She walked out of the room. (The speaker is outside the room.)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>走 zǒu to walk<br />跑 pǎo to run<br />拿 ná to take<br />开 kāi to drive</td>
<td>回来/去<br />huí lái /qù <br />back</td>
<td>我 跑 回 了 家 去。<br />wǒ pǎo huí le jiā qù <br />I ran home. (The speaker is away from home.)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>走 zǒu to walk<br />跑 pǎo to run<br />拿 ná to take<br />开 kāi to drive</td>
<td>过来/去<br />guò lái /qù <br />across, past, over</td>
<td>她 拿 过 了一本 书 来。(她 拿 过 来了一本 书 。)<br />tā ná guòle yì běn shū lái ( tā ná guòlái le yì běn shū )<br />She brought over a book.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>站 zhàn to stand</td>
<td>起来<br />qǐ lái <br />up (去qù is not used with 起qǐ)</td>
<td>你们 都 站 起来。<br />nǐmen dōu zhàn qǐlái <br />You all stand up.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Assignments Frequently asked questions Click on the following links to view the answers</p>
<ol style="list-style-type: decimal">
<li>What are directional complements?</li>
<li>What are the functions of 来 and 去 in directional complements?</li>
<li>Can a direction word and 来 or 去 be used together?</li>
<li>Can you show me a list of combined directional complements?</li>
<li>Can I use a combined directional complement as the main verb in a sentence?</li>
<li>When do I use the full version of directional verb complements in sentences?</li>
<li>Where should I place the directional verb complements in a sentence?</li>
<li>Where should I place a 了 for completed action when I use a directional complement?</li>
<li>Can the particle 着 be used with a directional complement?</li>
<li>Can the particle 过 be used with a directional complement?<br />
</li>
<li>Where should I place the object of a sentence if a directional verb complement is used?</li>
<li>I have seen some sentences with combined directional complements and complex objects, where 来 or 去 are placed after the complex objects. Can you tell me the reason for this?</li>
</ol>