3 · Complements after the verb
Compound direction complements
verb plus direction plus lái or qù
A verb of movement, a direction word and lái or qù: zǒu jìnlai, ná chūlai, pǎo huíqu.
A compound direction complement has three layers. The verb says how something moves (走, 跑, 拿, 搬, 站); the direction word says where to (上 up, 下 down, 进 in, 出 out, 回 back, 过 across, 起 up from lying or sitting); and 来 or 去 says whether that is towards the speaker or away: 他跑进来了, “he came running in”.
English does the first two layers with a verb and a particle — “ran in”, “took out”, “stood up” — and Chinese adds the third, which English usually leaves to “come” and “go”. The combinations are regular: 上来, 上去, 下来, 下去, 进来, 进去, 出来, 出去, 回来, 回去, 过来, 过去 and 起来, which has no partner with 去.
An object changes the order. A place always goes before 来 or 去: 他走进教室来了. A thing can go in the same place or after the whole complement: 她拿出一本书来 or 她拿出来一本书. A definite thing that the listener already knows about usually moves to the front with 把: 请把书拿出来.
The whole complement is normally unstressed and said in the neutral tone: zǒu jinlai, zhàn qilai. When an object splits it, the direction word keeps its tone and 来 or 去 stays neutral: ná chū yì běn shū lai.
The form
| ran in (towards me) | 他跑进来了。 |
| walked out (away) | 他走出去了。 |
| stood up | 大家都站起来了。 |
| a place in the middle | 他走进教室来了。 |
| a thing in the middle | 她拿出一本书来。 |
| a thing at the end | 她拿出来一本书。 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
The order is fixed: verb, direction word, then 来 or 去.
他从楼上跑下来了。He came running down from upstairs.
A place goes before 来 or 去, never after them.
小狗跑进房间来了。The puppy ran into the room.
A thing can go before 来 or 去, or after the whole complement.
他从包里拿出来一张地图。He took a map out of his bag.
起来 has no partner with 去.
老师进来的时候，学生们都站起来了。When the teacher came in, the students all stood up.
A closer look
Thirteen combinations, seven directions
The system is small enough to learn as a table. Seven direction words — 上, 下, 进, 出, 回, 过, 起 — combine with 来 and 去, and only 起去 is missing. Each combination can also stand alone as a verb: 他进来了, “he came in”, says the movement without saying how.
The verb in front adds the manner, which English often has to say with a separate verb: 跑出来 “come running out”, 飞过去 “fly across”, 爬上去 “climb up”, 搬进来 “move in (with the furniture)”.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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the thing is definite and already known to the listener
it normally moves before the verb with 把, and the complement stays together.
请把护照拿出来。Please take out your passport.
The end of a Chinese sentence is the place for new information; a known object would sound oddly emphasised there.
How to spot it
- 上来
- 下去
- 进来
- 出去
- 回来
- 过来
- 起来
Example sentences
他一听到我的声音就跑出来了。As soon as he heard my voice, he came running out.
你能帮我把箱子搬上去吗？Could you help me carry the suitcase up?
一只鸟从窗户飞进来了。A bird flew in through the window.
他从口袋里拿出一把钥匙来。He took a key out of his pocket.
孩子们跑回家去了。The children ran back home.
你慢慢走过来，别跑。Walk over here slowly — don't run.
8 more example sentences
他把椅子搬过来了。He carried the chair over here.
太阳从山后面升起来了。The sun rose from behind the mountain.
她从图书馆借回来两本书。She borrowed two books from the library and brought them back.
你快从树上爬下来！Climb down from the tree, quick!
他走进办公室去了。He walked into the office.
门开了，走出来一个老人。The door opened and an old man came out.
球掉进河里去了。The ball fell into the river.
请大家坐下来。Please sit down, everyone.
Worth knowing (1)
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Up and down the stairs
Between floors, 上来 and 上去 depend entirely on who is speaking. The person upstairs invites you with 上来; the person downstairs announces 我上去.
我在楼上，你走上来吧。I'm upstairs — come on up.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English says “walked into the classroom”, with the place after the whole movement. In Chinese the place has to split the complement: it goes after the direction word and before 来 or 去.
Verb, direction, lái or qù — and a place always comes before the lái or qù.
Your turn
9 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.