Compound directional complements

The verbs 上、下、进、出、回、过 combine with 来 / 去 or 起来 to form a compound directional complement after the verb.

The pattern states which way the movement goes.

The forms

Verb + 上 / 下 / 进 / 出 / 回 / 过 + 来 / 去 or verb + 起来

Examples

她经常跑上来找我玩

她tāshe

经常jīngchángoften

跑上来pǎo shàngláirun up here

找我玩zhǎo wǒ wáncome and play with me

Here 上 + 来 is upward + toward the speaker.

楼不高，我们走上去吧

楼不高lóu bù gāothe building isn't tall

我们wǒmenwe

走上去zǒu shàngquwalk up

吧baa suggesting tone

Here 上 + 去 is upward + away from the speaker.

一听到老师叫他的名字，他就站起来了

一听到yì tīngdàothe moment he heard

老师叫他的名字lǎoshī jiào tā de míngzithe teacher called his name

他就tā jiùhe immediately

站起来了zhàn qǐlái lestood up

Here 起来 marks the upward movement.

With an object

When the verb takes an object, the kind of object matters.

1. If the object is a place, it goes before 来 / 去.

Verb + direction + place + 来 / 去

同学们都走出教室去了

同学们tóngxuémenthe classmates

都dōuall

走出教室去zǒu chū jiàoshì qùwalk out of the classroom

Here 教室 is a place, so it comes before 去.

2. If the object is a thing, it may go either before or after 来 / 去.

妈妈让我买回一些菜来

妈妈让我māma ràng wǒMum asked me to

买回mǎi huíbuy and bring back

一些菜yìxiē càisome vegetables

来láihere

Here 一些菜 is a thing, so it comes before 来.

白家月从书包里找出来一个漂亮的本子

从书包里cóng shūbāo lǐfrom inside the bag

找出来zhǎo chūláifind and take out

一个漂亮的本子yí ge piàoliang de běnzia pretty notebook

Here the object comes after 来 / 去.

Quick rule

Verb + 上 / 下 / 进 / 出 / 回 / 过 + 来 / 去

Meaning: it states the exact direction of the movement.

跑上来 — run up here 走上去 — walk up there 走出教室去 — walk out of the classroom

Verb + 起来

站起来 — stand up

Object is a place: verb + direction + place + 来 / 去

Object is a thing: verb + direction + thing + 来 / 去 or verb + direction + 来 / 去 + thing