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起来 (qǐ lái) — to get up, to stand up; (verb complement) indicating upward movement, beginning of an action, or a preliminary judgment after perception verbs

Definition

Two distinct uses: as a main verb it means 'stand up, get up' (close to 起床 but not tied to bed). More often it follows another verb as a direction/result complement meaning 'upward' or 'starting to do something'.

verb
to get upto stand up(verb complement) indicating upward movement, beginning of an action, or a preliminary judgment after perception verbs

Examples

  • 起来：“。”
    Tā zhàn qǐ lái shuō: "nǐ hǎo."
    He stood up and said, 'Hello.'
  • 起来。
    Qǐng bǎ shū ná qǐ lái.
    Please pick up the book.
  • 。
    Tā kàn qǐ lái hěn gāo xìng.
    She looks very happy.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

起qǐrise
来láicome

起 means rise and 来 means come; together they picture rising up.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
走走zǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
巳
巳sì起qǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

起 is made from 走 and 巳: 走 is the part connected with walking or running, and 巳 gives the sound.

Open 起 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 來; 来 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 來 shows a wheat plant: a central ear, upward leaves, and downward stem and roots. The simplified 来 is a later shorthand.

Open 来 →

Grammar

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 2500 Most Frequent Chinese WordsHSK 2.0 Level 41000 Most Frequent Chinese WordsDaily Routine2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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