Tag: Chinese Grammar

下去 (xiàqù) is one of the most often heard result complements. Master how to use it with this article!

起来 (qǐlái) comes up very frequently in Chinese and can be used both literally and figuratively. This is a little like the usage of "up" in English which can be used literally, as in "stand up", or figuratively, as in "add up".

One of the most often used result complements is 好 (hǎo). It implies that something is complete or done well.

Everyone makes mistakes, especially when you start learning Chinese. Learn how to use the result complement 错 (cuò) to express making mistakes!

Another great potential complement is 不下 (bùxià). Structure
To talk about whether or not something can happen or is possible, potential complements are used. One of the most common is 不下. This is used to talk about whether or not something will fit or go somewhere.
Subject + Verb + 不下 + Object

This is a potential complement that expresses you "can't do something." Don't confuse it with 不懂 as explained in The "-bu dong" (don't understand) 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.

In this article, we take a look at how we use 得 (de) to help describe an action. It is one of the characters that often gets confused with 的 and 地， since they could be pronounced as a neutral tone "de".

One kind of complement in Chinese involves putting 到, 给 or 在 after the verb. These are used to indicate direction, target and location, respectively.

When you use 不怎么 (bù zěnme) before an adjective, it means "not very." This structure is similar to how English speakers may say something is "not very good".