What Are Result Complements in Chinese? (好, 错, 走, 掉…)
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”).
Why this trips learners up
Chinese loves to say not just what you did but how it turned out, and it does that by sticking a result complement right after the verb: Verb + Complement + 了. The verb is the action; the complement is the outcome. 吃 is “eat,” 吃好了 is “finished eating (well)”; 写 is “write,” 写错了 is “wrote it wrong”; 洗 is “wash,” 洗干净了 is “washed it clean.”
The complement comes in two flavours. Most often it’s an adjective: 好 (done well / completely: 做好了, 想好了), 错 (wrongly: 记错了), 坏 (broken: 玩坏了, 摔坏了), 干净 (clean: 打扫干净了), 饱 (full: 吃饱了), 晚 (late: 来晚了), 清楚 (clearly: 看清楚, 听清楚). It can also be a short verb: 走 (away: 拿走, 偷走), 掉 (off / gone: 扔掉, 卖掉), 倒 (over: 推倒, 撞倒), 会 (learn: 学会). (A few very common ones, 完, 到 / 见 and 懂, have their own pages.)
The rule that trips English speakers is the negative: a result either happened or it didn’t, so you negate with 没, never 不. “I didn’t get full” is 我没吃饱, not 我不吃饱; “he hasn’t thought it through” is 他还没想好. And with 没 you drop the 了, since the result never came about. (This is exactly where result complements split from potential complements, which negate with 不 inside the verb, 吃不饱 = “can’t get full.”)
Two more habits worth copying. Chinese very often fronts the object as a topic and drops the subject: 这个字写错了 (“this character is written wrong”), 杯子摔坏了 (“the cup got broken”), 房间打扫干净了吗？ (“is the room cleaned up?”). And result complements pair beautifully with 把, because both are about what happens to an object: 我把杯子摔坏了 (“I broke the glass”), 他把电脑修好了 (“he fixed the computer”), 我们把房间打扫干净了 (“we cleaned the room”). Quick guide: verb + how it turned out, 了 to mark it done, 没 (no 了) to say it didn’t.
The structure
Colour key
Each colour marks one grammatical role — and the same colour means the same role on every page in the Lab.
Examples in context
Real-world sentences, easiest first. Toggle pinyin or the translation, tap any word to see its role, or play the audio.
Tap a word to see its grammatical role.
nǐ 你 Subject chī 吃 Verb hǎo 好 Complement le 了 Function word ma 吗 Question
Are you done eating? (吃好了, the adjective complement 好).
duìbuqǐ 对不起 Other wǒ ，我 Subject jì 记 Verb cuò 错 Complement le 了 Function word shíjiān 时间 Object
Sorry, I got the time wrong (记错了, with the object after).
fángjiān 房间 Object dǎsǎo 打扫 Verb gānjìng 干净 Complement le 了 Function word ma 吗 Question
Is the room all cleaned up? (打扫干净了, object topicalized, subject dropped).
wǒ 我 Subject hái 还 Adverb méi 没 Negation chī 吃 Verb bǎo 饱 Complement
I’m still not full (没吃饱, a result negated with 没, no 了).
xiǎotōu 小偷 Subject tōu 偷 Verb zǒu 走 Complement le 了 Function word wǒ de qiánbāo 我的钱包 Object
A thief made off with my wallet (偷走了, the verb complement 走).
wǒ 我 Subject bǎ 把 Function word jiù shǒujī 旧手机 Object mài 卖 Verb diào 掉 Complement le 了 Function word
I sold off my old phone (把…卖掉了, 把 with the verb complement 掉).
wǒ bàba 我爸爸 Subject hái 还 Adverb méi 没 Negation xué 学 Verb huì 会 Complement yòng zhìnéng shǒujī 用智能手机 Object
My dad still hasn’t learned to use a smartphone (没学会, that is 没 + 会).
zhèxiē yīfu 这些衣服 Object wǒ 我 Subject hái 还 Adverb méi 没 Negation xǐ 洗 Verb gānjìng 干净 Complement bié ，别 Negation ná 拿 Verb zǒu 走 Complement
I haven’t got these clothes clean yet, don’t take them away (没洗干净 + 拿走, two complements).
Common mistakes
Why it happens: Negate a result with 没, never 不. “I didn’t get full” is 我没吃饱, not 我不吃饱. A result complement reports whether an outcome happened, and 不 doesn’t negate a happened / unhappened result, 没 does.
Why it happens: The result complement comes after the verb, not before it. “I wrote this character wrong” is 我写错了这个字, not 我错写了. The verb (写) states the action; the complement (错) states how it turned out, so it follows.
Why it happens: With 没, drop the 了. “The room hasn’t been cleaned” is 房间还没打扫干净, not …干净了. The 了 marks a result as reached; if 没 says it didn’t happen, there’s no completed result for 了 to mark.
Compare & contrast
| Result complement: did it happen? (negate 没) | Potential complement: can it happen? (negate 不) | The difference |
|---|---|---|
| 我没做完wǒ méi zuò wán = “I didn’t finish it” (the result didn’t happen → result complement, negate 没) | 我做不完wǒ zuò bu wán = “I can’t finish it” (reaching the result isn’t possible → potential complement, 得/不) | 我没做完 = “I didn’t finish it,” the result didn’t come about → result complement, negate 没. 我做不完 = “I can’t finish it,” reaching the result isn’t possible → potential complement, 得/不 inside. Same 做完, different question. |
| 我没听清楚wǒ méi tīng qīngchu = “I didn’t catch it clearly” (it didn’t happen → 没) | 我听不清楚wǒ tīng bu qīngchu = “I can’t hear it clearly” (not possible → 不, inside the complement) | 我没听清楚 = “I didn’t catch it clearly” (it didn’t happen → 没). 我听不清楚 = “I can’t hear it clearly” (not possible → 不, inside the complement). Did it versus can I. |
Try it yourself
Say “You wrote this character wrong.” Front the object, then Verb + Complement + 了: 这个字你写错了.
Related patterns
Quick reference card
What Are Result Complements in Chinese? (好, 错, 走, 掉…) grammar.merrymandarin.com A pocket summary — print it and keep it by your desk.