Figurative 出来: identifying, producing
补语 / complements
Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral
看 / 听 / 认 / 想 / 写 + 出来
Figuratively, 出来 means making something emerge that was hidden or didn't exist:
1. Identify, recognise: 看出来 (notice, tell), 听出来 (recognise by sound), 认出来 (recognise someone).
2. Produce, create: 想出来 (come up with), 写出来 (write out).
Potential: 看得出来 / 看不出来 (you can / can't tell that…). With an object: 我认出他来了, the object often goes between 出 and 来.
Examples
你看得出来这张照片是假的吗？
Nǐ kàn de chūlai zhè zhāng zhàopiàn shì jiǎ de ma?Can you tell this photo is fake?
我一听就听出来是你的声音。
Wǒ yì tīng jiù tīng chulai shì nǐ de shēngyīn.I recognised your voice straight away.
记者想出来一个好办法。
Jìzhě xiǎng chulai yí ge hǎo bànfǎ.The reporter came up with a good idea.
Common mistakes
✗ 我想起来一个好办法。 → for a new idea: ✓ 我想出来一个好办法。 (想起来 = recall)
✗ 我看出来不了。 → ✓ 我看不出来。