Directionals: 上, 下, 进, 出, 回, 过, 起 (+ 来/去)

补语 / complements (趋向补语)

Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral

Verb + 上 / 下 / 进 / 出 / 回 / 过 / 起 (+ 来 / 去)

These direction verbs attach to an action verb to specify the path: 走 (walk) + 进 (enter) = 走进 (walk in). 跑 + 出 = 跑出 (run out).

Add 来/去 for the viewpoint: 走过去 (walk over / across), 站起来 (stand up), 拿出来 (take out), 开过来 (drive over here).

Very handy for routes: 走过这条街 (cross this street), 开进停车场 (drive into the car park).

Examples

过了马路，你就能看见地铁站。
Guòle mǎlù, nǐ jiù néng kànjiàn dìtiězhàn.
Once you cross the road, you'll see the subway station.
出租车开过来了。
Chūzūchē kāi guòlai le.
The taxi is coming over.
他从包里拿出来一张地图。
Tā cóng bāo li ná chūlai yì zhāng dìtú.
He took a map out of his bag.
请大家站起来。
Qǐng dàjiā zhàn qǐlai.
Everyone please stand up.

Common mistakes

With a place, it goes before 来/去: ✗ 走进来房间 → ✓ 走进房间来.

✗ 起来站 → ✓ 站起来 (action verb first).