Tag: Chinese Grammar

Two of the most common result complements in Chinese are 到 (dào) and 见 (jiàn). Both can be used in similar statements.

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) in Chinese grammar. 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.

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.

Of all the result complements in Chinese, this one is one of the most satisfying to use, since it implies "finishing" something. On it's own, 完 (wán) means "to finish" or "complete." Using it in this grammar structure, it expresses the idea of doing the verb until you are complete.

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"