A compound complement of direction is formed by a verb and a simple complement of direction following the verb, describing the direction of an action.
Verb + Compound directional complement
Compound directional complement: 出来/出去/过来/过去/回来/回去/进来/进去/起来/上来/上去/下来/下去
– When an object is a place, it should be put before “来” or “去”.
e.g.
老师走进教室来。(Lǎoshī zǒu jìn jiàoshì lái.) The teacher walked into the classroom.
学生们走出教室去了。(Xuéshēngmen zǒuchū jiàoshì qùle.) The students went out of the classroom.
他跑上楼去。(Tā pǎo shàng lóu qù.) He ran upstairs.
我们走进超市去。(Wǒmen zǒu jìn chāoshì qù.) We went into the supermarket.
– When the object is a general item, it can be put either before or after “来” or “去”.
e.g.
请你拿出钱来。= 请你拿出来钱。Please take out your money.
哥哥从北京带回一些礼物来。= 哥哥从北京带回来一些礼物。Brother brought some gifts back from Beijing.
我买回一件衣服来。= 我买回来一件衣服。I bought a piece of clothing.
If the action has already been completed and realized, the object is usually put after “来” or “去”, or the object is put after the verb and before the complement.
Verb + Compound complement + Object
e.g.
哥哥从北京带回来了一些礼物。
我买回来了一件衣服。
Verb + Object + Compound complement
哥哥从北京带了一些礼物回来。
我买了一件衣服回来。
“来出”: indicating the displacement is from inside to outside, the direction is approaching the speaker.
“出去”: indicating the displacement is from inside to outside, the direction is away from the speaker.
e.g.
他从包里拿出一本书来。(Tā cóng bāo lǐ ná chū yī běn shū lái.)He took out a book from his bag.
他慢慢地走出门去了。(Tā mànmande zǒuchū mén qù le.) He walked out the door slowly.
“进来”: indicating the displacement is from outside to inside, the direction is approaching the speaker.
“进去”: indicating the displacement is from outside to inside, the direction is away from the speaker.
e.g.
外边的桌子你搬进来了没有?(Wàibian de zhuōzi nǐ bān jìnláile méiyǒu?) Have you moved the outside table in?
这些花不能放在外面,快拿进去。(Zhèxiē huā bù néng fàng zài wàimiàn, kuài ná jìnqù.) These flowers can’t be placed outside, take them in quickly.
“回来”: indicating getting back. The direction is approaching the speaker.
“回去”: indicating getting back. The direction is away from the speaker.
e.g.
我昨天带回来了一些书。(Wǒ zuótiān dài huíláile yīxiē shū.) I brought back some books yesterday.
这儿离学校很近,我们走回去吧。(Zhèr lí xuéxiào hěn jìn, wǒmen zǒu huíqù ba.) This is very close to the school, let’s walk back.
“过来” “过去”: indicating the direction of movement. “来” is approaching to the speaker, while “去” is away from the speaker.
e.g.
汽车开过来了,咱们准备上车。(Qìchē kāi guòláile, zánmen zhǔnbèi shàng chē.) The car is coming, we are ready to get on the car.
他在那边,我们走过去吧。(Tā zài nà biān, wǒmen zǒu guòqù ba.) He is over there, let’s go over.
“下去”: indicating the displacement is from high to low, the direction is away from the speaker.
“下来”: indicating the displacement is from high to low, the direction is approaching to the speaker.
e.g.
东西你帮我拿下去吧。(Dōngxi nǐ bāng wǒ ná xiàqù ba.) You can take the stuff down for me.
他从楼上走下来了。(Tā cóng lóu shàng zǒu xiàláile.) He walked down the stairs.
“上去”: indicating the displacement is from low to high, the direction is away from the speaker.
“上来”: indicating the displacement is from low to high, the direction is approaching to the speaker.
e.g.
他突然跑上楼顶去了。(Tā tūrán pǎo shàng lóu dǐng qùle.) He suddenly ran up to the top of the building.
你的包拿上来了吗?(Nǐ de bāo ná shànglái le ma?) Has your bag been brought up yet?
“起来”: indicating getting up or rising from a lower place.
e.g.
你站起来。(Nǐ zhàn qǐlái.) stand up.
大家都坐起来。(Dàjiā dōu zuò qǐlái.) Everyone sits up.
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