Compound directional complements: 上来, 下去, 进来, 出去…
补语 / complements
Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral
A compound directional complement adds two elements after the verb:
- the direction of movement: 上 (up), 下 (down), 进 (in), 出 (out), 回 (back), 过 (over), 起 (up from lying/sitting);
- the speaker's viewpoint: 来 (towards me) or 去 (away from me).
E.g. 走进来 (walk in, towards me), 跑出去 (run out), 搬上去 (carry up there).
Object position: a place must go before 来/去: 走进教室来, 跑回家去. A thing can go before 来/去 or at the end: 拿出一本书来 / 拿出来一本书.
Examples
快进来吧，外面很冷。
Kuài jìnlai ba, wàimiàn hěn lěng.Come on in, it's cold outside.
你能帮我把箱子搬上去吗？
Nǐ néng bāng wǒ bǎ xiāngzi bān shangqu ma?Can you help me carry the box up?
他从包里拿出来一本护照。
Tā cóng bāo lǐ ná chulai yì běn hùzhào.He took a passport out of his bag.
孩子们跑回家去了。
Háizimen pǎo huí jiā qu le.The kids ran back home.
Common mistakes
✗ 他走进来教室。 → the place goes before 来. ✓ 他走进教室来。
✗ 你下来楼吧。 → ✓ 你下楼来吧。
Pick 来 or 去 according to where you are: if you're in the room, people 进来; if you're outside, they 进去.