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Directional Verb Complements
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:
走 进 教 室。
zǒu jìn jiàoshì
To walk into the classroom.
The following list consists of the single directional words.
| Verbs | Directional | complements | Examples |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------- |
| 挂 guà to hàng
戴 dài to wear | 上shang up, on | 挂 上 地图
guà shang dì tú
To hang up the map.
戴 上 帽 子
dài shang màozi
To put on the hat. | |
| 放 fàng to put | 下xià down | 放 下 书
fàng xia shū
To put down the book. | |
| 走 zǒu to walk
拿 ná to take
开 kāi to drive | 进 jìn in | 车 开 进了学 院
chē kāi jìn le xuéyuàn
The car has been driven into the college. | |
| 走 zǒu to walk
拿 ná to take
开 kāi to drive | 出 chū out | 走 出 教 室
zǒu chū jiàoshì
To walk out of the classroom. | |
| 走 zǒu to walk
拿 ná to take
开 kāi to drive
寄 jì to post | 回 huí back | 拿 回 家
ná huí jiā
To take (bring) it back home.
寄回 中 国
jì huí Zhōngguó
To post it back to China. | |
| 走 zǒu to walk
开 kāi to drive | 过 guò across, past, over | 走 过 了书 店
zǒu guò le shūdiàn
Walked pass the bookshop. | |
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:
别 进 去
bié jìn qù
Don’t go in.
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:
走 进来
zǒujìnlái
Walking in.
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.
小 王 走 进 了 教 室 来。
Xiǎo Wáng zǒu jìn le jiàoshì lái
Xiao Wang walked into the classroom. (The speaker is in the classroom.)
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.
| Verbs | Directional complements | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 跑 pǎo to run 走 zǒu to walk 拿 ná to take 开 kāi to drive |
上来/去 shàng lái /qù on |
小 王 跑 上 了 山 去。 Xiǎo Wáng pǎo shàng le shān qù Xiao Wang ran up the mountain. (The speaker is at the bottom of the mountain.) 小 丁 拿 上 了一 杯 茶 来。 Xiǎo Dīng ná shàng le yì bēi chá lái Xiao Ding brought up a cup of tea. (The speaker is upstairs.) |
| 走 zǒu to walk 跑 pǎo to run 拿 ná to take 开 kāi to drive |
下来/去 xiàlái /qù down |
他走 下 了楼 来。 tā zǒu xià le lóu lái He walked down from upstairs. (The speaker is downstairs.) |
| 走 zǒu to walk 跑 pǎo to run 拿 ná to take 开 kāi to drive |
进来/去 jìn lái /qù in |
别 走 进 公 园 去。bié zǒu jìn gongyuán qù Don’t go into the park. (The speaker is outside park.) |
| 走 zǒu to walk 跑 pǎo to run 拿 ná to take 开 kāi to drive |
出来/去 chū lái /qù out |
她 走 出 了 房 间 来。 tā zǒu chū le fangjiān lái She walked out of the room. (The speaker is outside the room.) |
| 走 zǒu to walk 跑 pǎo to run 拿 ná to take 开 kāi to drive |
回来/去 huí lái /qù back |
我 跑 回 了 家 去。 wǒ pǎo huí le jiā qù I ran home. (The speaker is away from home.) |
| 走 zǒu to walk 跑 pǎo to run 拿 ná to take 开 kāi to drive |
过来/去 guò lái /qù across, past, over |
她 拿 过 了一本 书 来。(她 拿 过 来了一本 书 。) tā ná guòle yì běn shū lái ( tā ná guòlái le yì běn shū ) She brought over a book. |
| 站 zhàn to stand | 起来 qǐ lái up (去qù is not used with 起qǐ) |
你们 都 站 起来。 nǐmen dōu zhàn qǐlái You all stand up. |
Assignments Frequently asked questions Click on the following links to view the answers
- What are directional complements?
- What are the functions of 来 and 去 in directional complements?
- Can a direction word and 来 or 去 be used together?
- Can you show me a list of combined directional complements?
- Can I use a combined directional complement as the main verb in a sentence?
- When do I use the full version of directional verb complements in sentences?
- Where should I place the directional verb complements in a sentence?
- Where should I place a 了 for completed action when I use a directional complement?
- Can the particle 着 be used with a directional complement?
- Can the particle 过 be used with a directional complement?
- Where should I place the object of a sentence if a directional verb complement is used?
- 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?