What is a “result complement” in Chinese?

A result complement suffix is where a complement character or characters is added after a verb to communicate the outcome or result. In English this is the equivalent of the difference between “listen” and “hear” or “look” and “see”. It’s important to understand that in Chinese many verbs don’t include the result, so th completement character or characters are added to communicate this.

The typical patter for a result complement is:

result complement = verb + complement

Where A complement is either a verb or adjective.

Here are some examples:

Verb	Verb + Complement
look 看kàn	see 看kàn见jiàn
listen 听tīng	hear 听tīng到dào
listen 听tīng	understand 听tīng到dào
listen 听tīng	mishear 听tīng错cuò
to do 做zuò	to complete 做zuò完wán
pull 拉lā	pull open 拉lā开kāi
to shut 关guān	to close 关guān闭bì
to wipe 擦cā	to wipe clean 擦cā干gān净jìng

Typically the complement is single character such as “arrive” 到dào, 错cuò, or 开kāi, however it can be two charcters such as “clean” 干gān净jìng as is the case in “to wipe clean” 擦cā干gān净jìng.

Here is a list of common adjective complements:

Adjective Complement	Example
“mistake” 错cuò	“to make a mistake” 做zuò错cuò
“dirty” 脏zàng	“to make diry” 弄nòng脏zāng
“clear” 清qīng楚chu	“hear clearly” 听tīng清qīng楚chu
“well” 好hǎo	“prepared” 准zhǔn备bèi好hǎo
“clean” 干gān净jìng	“wip clean” 擦cā干gān净jìng

This is a list of common verb complements:

Verb Complement	Example
“understand” 懂dǒng	“understand” 听tīng懂dǒng
“stop” 住zhù	“hold firmly” 拿ná住zhù
“open” 开kāi	“打开” 开kāi
“reduce”, “fall” 掉diào	”wipe off” 擦cā掉diào
“broken” 破pò	“to break” 打dǎ破pò
“fall” 倒dào	“fall down” 摔shuāi倒dǎo
“drop”, “shed” 掉diào	“sell off” 卖mài掉diào
“complete” 完wán	“to complete” 做zuò完wán
“awaken” 醒xǐng	“to wake up” 叫jiào醒xǐng