Potential complement

Verbs can take potential complements that indicate whether or not the action is actually possible. They are useful in Chinese to say if an action can take place.

1 Affirmative Form

1.1 Structure
1.2 Examples

2 Negative Form

2.1 Structure
2.2 Examples

3 Potential Complement with Objects
4 Advanced Potential Complements
5 See also
6 Sources and and further reading

6.1 Books
6.2 Websites
6.2.1 Yale

Affirmative Form

Structurally, potential complements are closely related to both result complements and direction complements, so it helps to be familiar with those first. The most important and commonly used potential complements are derived from other complements such as the following:

Potential complements can be positive or negative. What this means is fairly intuitive - potential complements can be used to express that something can happen or that it can't.

Structure

Examples

你没戴眼镜，看得清楚吗？ Nǐ méi dài yǎnjìng, kàn de qīngchu ma? You didn't wear glasses. Can you see things clearly?
他这么粗心，做得好吗？ Tā zhème cūxīn, zuò de hǎo ma? He'a so careless. Can he do it well?
你这么聪明，肯定学得会。 Nǐ zhème cōngming, kěndìng xué de huì. You're so smart. You can definitely learn this.
早上五点出发，孩子们起得来吗？ Zǎoshang wǔdiǎn chūfā, háizi men qǐ de lái ma? We're leaving at five a.m.. Will the kids be able to get up?
这么高的山，你爬得上去吗？ Zhème gāo de shān, nǐ pá de shàngqù ma? The mountain is so high. Can you make it to the top?

Negative Form

Structure

Examples

你的声音太小了，我们听不见。 Nǐ de shēngyīn tài xiǎo le, wǒmen tīng bu jiàn. Your voice is too soft. We can't hear you.
这里太暗了，我看不清楚。 Zhèlǐ tài àn le, wǒ kàn bu qīngchu. It's too dim here. I can't see clearly.
这个自行车太破了，谁都修不好。 Zhège zìxíngchē tài pò le, shéi dōu xiū bu hǎo . This bike is so broken. Nobody can fix it.
她的腿受伤了，站不起来了。 Tā de tuǐ shòushāng le, zhàn bu qǐlái le. Her leg is injured. She can't stand.
包太小了，手机放不进去。 Bāo tài xiǎo le, shǒujī fàng bu jìnqù. The bag is too small. I can't fit the cell phone in it.

Potential Complement with Objects

Objects in sentences with potential complements can occur either after the complement or at the beginning of a sentence.

A few examples:

你听得懂上海话吗？ Nǐ tīng de dǒng Shànghǎi-huà ma? Can you understand Shanghai dialect?
她这么小，看得懂这本书吗？ Tā zhème xiǎo, kàn de dǒng zhè běn shū ma? She's so young. Can she really understand this book?
我怕我做不好这份工作。 Wǒ pà wǒ zuò bu hǎo zhè fèn gōngzuò. I'm afraid that I can't do this job well.
这种手机现在买不到了。 Zhè zhǒng shǒujī xiànzài mǎi bu dào le. You can't buy this type of cell phone now.
这本书我一个星期肯定看得完。 Zhè běn shū wǒ yī gè xīngiqī kěndìng kàn de wán. I can definitely finish reading this book within one week.

Advanced Potential Complements

There are actually quite a few potential complements out there, and this article touches on some of the simplest and most common ones. Be aware that there are many more, but they all follow the same basic pattern outlined here. You can also see our article on advanced potential complements.

Potential complement

Contents

Affirmative Form

Structure

Examples

Negative Form

Structure

Examples