Complements

To say you can’t understand something, Chinese tucks 不懂 (“not-understand”) right after a verb of perception: 看不懂 (can’t make sense of it by reading), 听不懂 (can’t catch it by ear). The verb names HOW you’re receiving it. Flip 不 to 得 for the positive — 看得懂 (“can understand”).

To say you finished an action, attach 完 (“complete”) right onto the verb: 吃完 (eat up), 看完 (finish reading/watching), 做完 (finish doing). With an object, 完 hugs the verb and 了 goes at the end — 我看完这本书了. Negate with 没 (没看完, “didn’t finish”).

In Chinese, “look” and “see” are different: 看 is the act of looking, 看到 / 看见 is actually seeing. The complement 到 (or 见) marks the RESULT — 听到/听见 (“hear”), 找到 (“find”), 收到 (“receive”). For the senses 到 and 见 are interchangeable; only 到 reaches non-sense verbs. Negate with 没 (没看到).

看起来 (kànqǐlái) means “looks / seems,” the everyday way to describe how something appears. For a quality, use 看起来 + Adjective: 蛋糕看起来很好吃 (“the cake looks tasty”), 你看起来很累 (“you look tired”). For a resemblance, add 像: 看起来 + 像 + Noun, as in 你妈妈看起来像你姐姐 (“your mum looks like your older sister”). The key rule: an adjective follows 看起来 directly, but a noun needs 像.

到 (dào) after a verb works like “until”: Verb + 到 + Time / Event. 聊到半夜 (“chat until midnight”), 玩到几点 (“play until what time”). Add 一直 before the verb to stress the ongoing duration (一直聊到半夜). The catch: if the verb has an object, the verb repeats before 到, 写作业写到十二点 (“do homework until twelve”). The endpoint can even be a whole event, 一直吃到关门 (“eat until closing”).

A direction complement (趋向补语) tags a verb with the direction of its movement, using 来 or 去 chosen by the speaker's position: toward the speaker is 来, away is 去. 上来 (come up) vs 上去 (go up), 出来 vs 出去, 回来 vs 回去. Compounds attach to any verb (站起来, 拿出来). A place goes between the verb and 来/去 (回中国来), and direction complements pair naturally with 把 (把书拿出来).

Beyond its literal “up” (站起来) and its “seems” use (看起来), 起来 attaches to a verb or adjective to mark that an action or state has just started and is ongoing: Verb/Adjective + 起来 + 了. 哭起来了 (“burst into tears”), 天气热起来了 (“it's turning hot”), 身体好起来了 (“getting better”). It's for spontaneous onsets; for a planned start you use 开始 instead (开始工作, not 工作起来).

To say whether an action can reach its result, Chinese slots 得 (can) or 不 (can’t) between the verb and its complement: Verb + 得/不 + Complement. 吃得完 / 吃不完 (“can / can’t finish”), 买得到 / 买不到 (“can / can’t get”), 看得清楚 / 看不清楚 (“can / can’t see clearly”). This is the general potential complement, built on the result and direction complements you already know.

Attach 下去 to a verb to mean carry on, keep doing it from where you are: Verb + 下去. 说下去 (“keep talking”), 做下去 (“keep doing it”), 坚持下去 (“keep going”). The negative is usually the potential form Verb + 不 + 下去 + 了 (看不下去了, “can’t bear to keep watching”). It’s the continue-partner of 起来 (start).

A result complement is a word tacked straight onto a verb to name the result the action led to: Verb + Complement + 了. The complement is an adjective (吃好了 “finished eating,” 写错了 “wrote it wrong,” 洗干净了 “washed clean”) or a short verb (拿走 “take away,” 卖掉 “sell off,” 学会 “learn”). Negate with 没, not 不 (没吃饱, “didn’t get full”).

When a complement follows the verb, the safe default is V + complement + 了, and it works for every complement type (吃完了, 卖光了, 站起来了). The exception: with direction complements only (起来/过来/下去…), written Chinese may slip 了 inside, between verb and complement (站了起来, 跑了过来), though speech keeps it outside. Result complements (完/好/到/光) and potential complements (听得懂) are frozen: 了 never splits them.