dIrecTIOnAL verbS
19.419.3.2 complex directional suffixes
Complex directional suffixes have two parts. The first part indicates the absolute direction of
movement: up, down, into, out of, across, or returning to a location. The second part indicates
the direction of movement toward or away from the speaker.Direction of motion Direction toward /away from speaker
上 shàng ‘up’ 来/來 lái ‘toward the speaker’
起 qǐ ‘up’* 去 qù ‘away from the speaker’
下 xià ‘down’
进/進 jìn ‘into’
出 chū ‘out of’
过/過 guò ‘pass a location’
回 huí ‘return to a location’*There is no corresponding suffix 起去 qǐqù.
Here are examples of action verbs with compound directional endings.走下来/走下來 zǒuxiàlái ‘walk down (toward the speaker)’
走下去 zǒuxiàqù ‘walk down (away from the speaker)’
跑下来/跑下來 pǎoxiàlái ‘run down (toward the speaker)’
跑下去 pǎoxiàqù ‘run down (away from the speaker)’
拿出来/拿出來 náchūlái ‘take out (toward the speaker)’
拿出去 náchūqù ‘take out (away from the speaker)’
跳过来/跳過來 tiàoguòlái ‘jump over (toward the speaker)’
爬上来/爬上來 páshànglái ‘climb or crawl up (toward the speaker)’
走上来/走上來 zǒushànglái ‘walk up (toward the speaker)’
走回来/走回來 zǒuhuílái ‘walk back to a location (toward the speaker)’
走进来/走進來 zǒujìnlái ‘walk in (toward the speaker)’
站起来/站起來 zhànqǐlái ‘stand up’
滚出去 gǔnchūqù ‘roll out (away from the speaker), get out of here (disrespectful
colloquial expression)’
放下来/放下來 fàngxiàlái ‘put down’
开回去/開回去 kāihuíqù ‘drive back (to the original location)’
开过来/開過來 kāiguòlái ‘drive across (toward the speaker)’
开过去/開過去 kāiguòqù ‘drive across (away from the speaker)’19.4 Sentences with directional verbs
Sentences with directional verbs may use basic Mandarin phrase order:subject + verb + direct object
请你们坐下。
請你們坐下。
Qǐng nǐmen zuòxià.
Please sit down!两个人走进来了。
兩個人走進來了。
Liǎng gè rén zǒujìnlái le.
Two people walked in.
一只小鸟飞来了，一只小鸟飞走了。
一隻小鳥飛來了，一隻小鳥飛走了。
Yī zhī xiǎo niǎo fēiláile, yī zhī xiǎoniǎo fēizǒu le.
One little bird flew over here, and the other one flew away.